Pathfinder: Kingmaker Best Companions Guide

Feeling like your current characters aren’t dealing enough damage? Well, look no further than this handy Pathfinder: Kingmaker best companions guide.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Best Companions Guide

In Pathfinder: Kingmaker, having a balanced party can mean the difference between life and death during enemy encounters. The composition of tanks, DPS, ranged/support, and skill check specialists require a particular combination of characters to pull off artfully.

With 11 different recruitable companions spread across the world, players should fill their party slots wisely in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Finding the weaknesses of your current makeup can prove crucial when the time comes to build an alternate. Whether that’s swapping in a heavily armored sponge or a ranged support specialist, Pathfinder: Kingmaker’s fluid class system allows players to complement their primary class with subsequent careers.

Though beginners may proceed with a pure-primary character, taking a level to add alternative careers can prove extremely beneficial in several instances. These paths will allow tanks some secondary healing abilities, bards to mark enemies, and mages to achieve greater defense.

Note that personal builds may disrupt this list slightly. However, this is generally a good rule of thumb to follow for party builds:

• Tanks: keep two or three heavily armored characters at least. Without the ability to taunt enemies, their AI will target the closest available character. Spreading out the beating helps your party withstand many different assaults.
• Damage Dealers: ideally have three damage-focused characters – two close-combat and one AOE ranged dealer.
• Ranged Support Specialists: one or two companions should cover your ranged support base. Their skills should buff the current party’s stats and cover skill-check gaps.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Best Companions Guide

Tanks: Harrim

He may continuously sermon about the futility of life, but Groetus’s chosen makes for an excellent beginning tank. The dwarf’s perhaps the best support tank in the game, adding the heavy armor proficiency feat complements his role as a supportive cleric.

Leveling Harrim along as a pure support tank allows him to take the brunt of an enemy onslaught, healing your party at critical moments. Because of his array of faith-based spells available late into the game, he should be a go-to party member throughout Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Tips:

• Pure Cleric leveling allows Harrim to heal your party and become a decent tank.
• Make sure to take Coordinated Defense along with the Heavy Armor Proficiency feat. Those two will provide decent defensive buffs throughout the game.
• Remember his buffs! Prayer, Bless, and Bane each provide great bonuses throughout the game.

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Pathfinder: Kingmaker Best Companions Guide – Tanks: Valerie

Her lawful-to-a-fault personality may grate, but Valerie’s the single best damage-sponge of Pathfinder: Kingmaker’s companions. Her Tower Shield can weather an onslaught of enemy blows, and therefore players should place her at the head of an assault.

Keep Valerie’s primary class as her default Tower Shield Specialist, while also taking a few levels in the Thug sub-class for Rogues. Due to her surprisingly high charisma stat, this will complement her tank style with maneuvers like Frighten to stun opponents later into the game.

Tips:

• Prioritize having Valerie in the heaviest armor available. Until she learns a few skills in Thug, the casting/skill modifiers won’t cause issues for her build.
• Taking a few levels into the Thug sub-class can allow Valerie to utilize skills based on Charisma checks. Frighten and Intimidate complement her Tank style well.
• Be mindful; heavier armor makes skill usage more difficult!

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Companion Guide

Damage Dealers: Amiri

Above all, get Amiri in your party now!

The wandering barbarian makes for the single best early-game damage dealer in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Her starting weapon, the Ginormous Sword, deals massive damage at close range. Even with a -2 debuff to attack rolls, that devastating weapon can carry her through several levels of the game.

Due to her massive strength bonus, Amiri’s best used in her default Barbarian class. Remember to keep her in light/medium armor, and send her into battle after your tanks engage the enemies.

Tips:

• Equip Amiri with the party’s best available defense/constitution buffs.
  • Shield of Faith, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, and Touch of Glory will prevent her from going down quickly in fights.
• Level up Amiri’s Athletics and Lore: Nature skills (seriously!). These help round out party weaknesses and make Amiri your camp’s designated hunter.
• Send Amiri in after the tanks engage! Her lack of defensive abilities causes Amiri to lose health easily as a vanguard fighter.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Best Companions Guide – Damage Dealers: Jubilost

Ah, Jubilost. Once this alchemist joins your party, he’s likely never going to leave.

His vast intelligence and high dexterity make Jubilost one of the best straight-up damage dealers in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. On top of his ranged attacks, Jubilost’s primary Alchemist class allows an array of bombs to take down enemy groups. If packs of giant spiders, troublesome trolls, or large manticores have whittled down your inventory bomb supply, Jubilost will fix that problem immediately.

Jubilost works best as a pure alchemist. Because of his growing supply of bombs, precious gold won’t go towards merchants. Rely upon his abilities instead for those tough fights.

Tips:

• Take these three feats ASAP:
  • Ability Focus – Bombs, Extra Bombs, Throw Anything
• Very reliable damage dealer with the Devourer of Metal longbow. His high Dexterity can help compensate the -2 attack roll
• Pumping stats into Knowledge: World/Arcane receive massive boosts with Jubilost’s high Intelligence

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Best Companions Guide

Ranged Support: Linzi

Pathfinder: Kingmaker’s plucky narrator also deserves her round of applause.

Linzi’s Bardic abilities round her out as a great support companion. The Inspire Competence/Courage abilities make for great buffs during the early game. Late-game ballads like the Dirge of Doom and Inspire Greatness can also turn the advantage back in your party’s favor.

Keep Linzi out of armor though. Because of her low carry weight, her skill checks suffer in nearly every armor set.

Tips:

• At around level 5, take the Ranger sub-class Freebooter. The Freebooter’s Bane ability lets Linzi mark vulnerable targets with a decent debuff.
• Prioritize learning ballads to buff allies before engagements. Summon Monster abilities similarly compliment Linzi’s role.
• Keep Linzi as far as possible from the engagement! Just close enough to keep her buffs in range of allies.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Best Companions Guide – Ranged Support: Octavia

Mages are a somewhat squishy lot in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Their lack of abilities makes using these fighters during the early-game tricky, to say the least.

However, Octavia’s the best magical bet of your companions. She starts the game with the ability to get some decent magic buffs. Enlarge/Reduce Person, Hasty Retreat, and Break Hold spells become beneficial buffs to grant close-ranged fighters.

Like Linzi, Octavia’s best kept out of armor entirely. Caster’s generally need distance from enemies to maximize their effectiveness.

Tips:

• Prioritizing Octavia’s support-based magic helps the party more than her offensive spells.
• Later levels allow Octavia to morph into an Arcane Trickster – an advanced class focusing on stealth.
• Take the Arcane Combat Specialist skill to reduce spell check failures.

Be sure to search for Twinfinite for more information on the game, and check out our official Pathfinder: Kingmaker review here.