Avowed's Companions: A Ranked Guide from Worst to Best

Beyond their narrative roles and dialogue, Avowed's Companions offer practical advantages, from pathfinding to combat prowess. This guide ranks every Avowed Companion, from least to most effective.

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4. Marius

Throughout my Avowed playthrough, Marius (pictured above) proved largely incompatible with my playstyle. While his passive abilities aid early exploration, he's quickly outmatched by later Companions. His usefulness lies in item and plant discovery, but his combat capabilities are weak. Here's a breakdown of his skills and upgrades:

• Blinding Roots: Roots enemies (upgradeable to stun, trap multiple, and inflict Bleed).
• Heart Seeker: A piercing shot that always hits (upgradeable for multi-target, increased damage vs. low-health enemies, and reduced cooldown).
• Shadow Step: Vanishes and strikes an enemy (upgradeable for instant kills on stunned enemies, increased damage vs. low-health enemies, and increased target count).
• Wounding Shots: Inflicts Bleed Accumulation (upgradeable to reduce enemy damage reduction, slow enemies, and further reduce enemy damage).

Marius primarily controls or weakens enemies. Effective against melee foes and low-health targets, especially for melee-focused Envoys, his niche abilities ultimately limit his overall value for most of the Avowed journey.

3. Giatta

Giatta, a support-oriented Animancer, uses magic for healing, shielding, and party buffs. While not a damage dealer, her utility is invaluable. Her protective capabilities are especially beneficial during challenging encounters like boss fights. Her abilities include:

• Purification: Heals allies (upgradeable for increased healing, enemy interruption, and increased ally damage reduction).
• Barrier: Provides temporary health to allies (upgradeable for increased temporary health, healing on barrier expiry, and protection from melee attacks).
• Acceleration: Increases ally movement and attack speed (upgradeable for damage reduction, extended duration, and ability cooldown reduction).
• Reconstruction: Heals allies with attacks (upgradeable for increased healing for low-health allies, temporary health at maximum health, and ally revival on enemy kill).

Giatta can also activate Essence Generators, unlocking late-game areas. While not optimal, she synergizes well with magic-focused Envoy builds.

2. Kai

Despite being an early recruit, Kai remains helpful throughout Avowed. A formidable tank, he deals significant damage with minimal player intervention. His abilities are:

• Fire and Ire: Blunderbuss attack with high stun and taunt (upgradeable for ignition, increased stun, and reduced cooldown).
• Unbending Defense: Health regeneration and damage reduction (upgradeable for increased damage reduction, increased regeneration, and a damaging shockwave on expiry).
• Leap of Daring: Stunning and taunting area-of-effect attack (upgradeable for increased area, temporary health per hit, and bonus attack damage per hit).
• Second Wind: Self-revival (upgradeable for increased health restoration, attack speed burst, and ability cooldown reset).

Kai's abilities excel against various enemy types, with some specializing in single, high-health targets, while others offer crowd control. His self-revival makes him a highly effective, low-maintenance combat partner. He can also use fire to clear obstacles.

1. Yatzli

Yatzli, a powerful Wizard, boasts high-damage attacks and exceptional crowd control. She's the closest thing to air support in the Living Lands. Her abilities include:

• Essence Explosion: Explosive arcane damage (upgradeable for increased blast radius, fire accumulation, and reduced cooldown).
• Minoletta’s Missile Battery: Volley of homing missiles (upgradeable for increased fire rate, range, and shock accumulation).
• Arduos Delay of Motion: Slows enemies (upgradeable for intensified slow, area-of-effect, and frost accumulation).
• Blast: Area-of-effect burst damage on hit (upgradeable for explosive damage to break obstacles, increased stun, and status effect chances).

Yatzli's potent abilities perfectly complement her fierce personality. She can also clear obstacles to access new areas. Although recruited last, she's a valuable asset for the remainder of your Avowed journey.

Avowed launches on PC and Xbox on February 18.