Best Avowed Companions, Ranked by Helpfulness

In Avowed, the Companions are more than just characters with rich backstories and engaging dialogue; they also play crucial roles in gameplay. From unlocking new paths to enhancing your combat prowess, each Companion brings unique abilities to the table. Here's a comprehensive ranking of the Companions in Avowed, from least to most effective, based on their practical utility.

4. Marius

During my playthrough of Avowed, I found that Marius (shown above, right) didn't quite mesh well with my preferred play style. While his passive abilities are useful for early-game exploration, helping you find items and plants, he quickly gets overshadowed by other Companions. Marius's combat abilities, while interesting, are quite niche. Here’s a detailed look at Marius's abilities and their upgrades:

• Blinding Roots: Roots enemies in place for 8 seconds. Upgrades can stun enemies, trap multiple in the area of effect, and deal Bleed Accumulation to trapped enemies.
• Heart Seeker: Fires a piercing shot that always hits the target, even through obstacles. Upgrades allow it to hit two enemies, increase damage to enemies below 50% health, and reduce cooldown by 33%.
• Shadow Step: Vanishes in a cloud of smoke before reappearing to slash enemies with daggers, up to three times. Upgrades can instantly kill most stunned enemies, increase damage against lower health enemies, and allow up to six strikes.
• Wounding Shots: Marius's attacks deal Bleed Accumulation. Upgrades can reduce enemy damage reduction, slow hit enemies, and decrease enemy damage.

Marius's abilities are focused on controlling and weakening enemies, which can be useful in specific scenarios, particularly when your Envoy is geared towards melee combat. However, his lack of raw power makes him less ideal for the broader journey across the Living Lands in Avowed.

3. Giatta

Giatta, a support-focused Animancer, leverages magic to heal, shield, and buff the party. While she may not excel in dealing damage, her abilities offer significant utility, particularly in high-stress situations like boss fights. Here's a breakdown of Giatta's abilities in Avowed:

• Purification: Heals allies by 25% of their maximum health. Upgrades can increase healing to 50%, interrupt and knock back enemies, and boost allies' damage reduction by 20% for 15 seconds.
• Barrier: Grants all allies a shield with temporary health for 20 seconds. Upgrades can increase the amount of temporary health, heal enemies when the barrier ends, and protect Giatta from melee hits while knocking back attackers.
• Acceleration: Boosts move and attack speed of all allies for 15 seconds. Upgrades can provide 15% damage reduction, extend acceleration by 10 seconds, and reduce ability cooldowns by 50%.
• Reconstruction: Giatta's attacks heal allies a small amount. Upgrades can heal allies below 20% health more effectively, grant temporary health at maximum health, and revive incapacitated allies upon killing an enemy.

Giatta's ability to power Essence Generators is also invaluable, unlocking otherwise inaccessible areas and leading to valuable loot in the late game. She pairs exceptionally well with Envoys using Wizard builds focused on magic.

2. Kai

Kai is the first Companion you'll meet in Avowed, and he remains a valuable asset throughout your playthrough. As a tank, Kai can take and deal damage effectively with minimal player input. Here are Kai's abilities and their upgrades:

• Fire and Ire: Fires from his Blunderbuss, dealing high stun and taunting enemies for 10 seconds. Upgrades can ignite the target, increase stun, and reduce cooldown by 50%.
• Unbending Defense: Regenerates health and increases damage reduction by 25%. Upgrades can reduce incoming damage by 50%, boost health regeneration, and unleash a shockwave upon expiration.
• Leap of Daring: Crashes down on an enemy, stunning and taunting nearby foes. Upgrades can double the area of effect, grant temporary health per enemy hit, and increase attack damage per enemy hit.
• Second Wind: Revives himself by restoring 50% of his maximum health. Upgrades can increase this to 75%, provide a temporary burst of attack speed, and reset all ability cooldowns.

Kai's abilities are versatile, effective against both single high-health enemies and crowds. His self-revival capability makes him a reliable combat partner, requiring little micromanagement. Additionally, Kai can use fire to clear obstacles like spider webs and roots, opening up new areas.

1. Yatzli

Yatzli, a Wizard with a fiery temperament, brings powerful attacks and excellent crowd control to the party. In the Living Lands, she's akin to having air support. Here are Yatzli's abilities and their upgrades:

• Essence Explosion: Explodes with arcane power, releasing essence and explosive damage. Upgrades can increase the blast radius, deal fire accumulation, and reduce cooldown by 33%.
• Minoletta’s Missile Battery: Fires a volley of enemy-seeking arcane missiles. Upgrades can increase fire rate and range, and cause shock accumulation.
• Arduos Delay of Motion: Slows an enemy for 10 seconds. Upgrades can intensify the slowing effect, create an area of effect, and deal frost accumulation.
• Blast: Yatzli's attacks burst into a small area of effect. Upgrades can deal explosive damage to break blocks, destroy walls, shatter frozen enemies, increase stun, and have a 5% chance to inflict Frozen, Ignited, or Shocked status.

Yatzli's powerful abilities match her fierce personality, making her an invaluable asset in combat. She can also clear obstacles, granting access to new areas. Although she's the last Companion you'll recruit in Avowed, her contributions make her well worth the wait.

Avowed is set to release on PC and Xbox on February 18.