Fallout 3 companions

This page lists the available followers or joinable non-player characters in Fallout 3.

Unlike previous Fallout games, the followers don't gain experience independently but are scaled to the level of the player; the player receives a debatable amount of experience while dealing damage alongside a party member. In the Xbox360 version the player earns full xp if able to do the majority of the damage that kills an opponent (you get zero xp for a kill unless you manage to do at least 30% of the dmg).

Combat
Companions will come with some standard weapons and armor and will use these, depending on what role you ask them to play (melee vs. ranged), until you give them something better. For example, Star Paladin Cross comes standard with Brotherhood Power Armor, a Laser Pistol, and a Super Sledge. If you gave her a helmet, she will put it on. If you gave her Tesla Armor, she will use it instead of the Brotherhood Power Armor. If set on 'ranged' and equipped with a Combat Shotgun, Star Paladin Cross uses that instead of her default Laser Pistol.
 * Note: If you give Star Paladin Cross Stimpaks, She may not use them during combat; Users have reported giving her Stimpaks several times with no success.

Companions have unlimited ammo for their standard weapon but you'll have to supply them the appropriate ammo for any upgraded ranged weapons.

Standard weapons never degrade but companions will wear out non-standard weapons and use up ammo just like you do. You'll have to take their weapons from them and get them repaired from time to time. Thankfully non-default weapons used by companions degrade very slowly compared to normal usage by Player. If a companion is given several weapons and the appropriate ammo, they will generally choose them first based on the range of the projectile, then on either damage per round (DPR) or damage per second (DPS) but not by the in-game interface's DMG stat.
 * Update: Non-standard companion weapons probably do not degrade by use, but will by enemy shots aimed at the weapon.
 * For example, if you equip Star Paladin Cross with a Flamer, she will first attack with her default Laser Pistol because her target is out of the Flamer's range. She will move towards the target to get into the Flamer's range and then switch to it.
 * There are exceptions, however. For example, Charon will always use Protectron's Gaze (a pistol) over the Laser Rifle, despite its reduced range AND damage per round rating.
 * When choosing between weapons whose projectiles have similar range, a companion may choose to use a sniper rifle instead of a minigun, even though the minigun has a higher DMG stat. This is because the sniper rifle has a higher DPR stat.
 * To be clear, it's not yet known what calc the companion uses to choose weapons, but it's clear it's not the DMG stat.
 * Companions may lose the weapons you give to them. This is probably caused by the weapon being shot out of their hands by enemies. So if your follower is using a Big Gun, it is wise to check if he has it on his inventory every once in a while, as those are easily targeted.
 * Update: Companions drop weapons that have zero durability. Including beloved unique weapons. ;(

Companions will wear any armor they are given that is superior to their standard armor. All humanoid companions (Star Paladin Cross, Butch DeLoria, Charon, Clover, and Jericho) are capable of wearing Power Armor. Armor worn by companions never degrades with use.

Some/all companions (except Dogmeat) will use grenades if you give them to them.

You can have them carry ranged weapons for you without fear of them using them by simply not giving them ammo for the weapons you don't want them to use, but it is possible the companion will find and pick up ammo for the weapon in containers/ground/bodies thus allowing him/her to use the weapon.

Companions have significantly more health than "normal" NPCs. Even wearing their standard armor (like Clover's pink dress or Butch's leather jacket), they can survive several high-power rifle headshots before dying. Give them Power Armor, and they can withstand a LOT of punishment in combat.

Companions are restored to full health at the end of combat, after all nearby enemies are dead. However, if you zone out during a fight and they follow while injured, or if they are injured outside of combat (e.g. a booby-trap), they do not heal (until after the next combat). They can also use stimpacks in their inventory in the middle of battle, if you gave some to them earlier. Dogmeat can't carry stimpacks, but you can speak to him in the middle of combat to heal him manually. Note that Dogmeat will be injured when you first acquire him (the injury is carried over from before you enlist him). You can check companions' health by viewing them in VATS mode.

Selecting a companion should be given some thought. Charon is the most versatile of followers, and you can hire him early on. Charon equipped is essentially as effective as Fawkes with his Gatling Laser.

Your playstyle is also important when selecting a follower. Player who focus on stealth should consider Charon to be most useful due to his high (tagged) Sneak stat, and avoid followers like Fawkes and Sergeant RL-3 due to the fact that these NPC's can't sneak. Characters focusing on combat should consider taking stronger followers with more health, like Fawkes and Star Paladin Cross.

A few added considerations are: Star Paladin Cross has a marked tendency to "lose" non-standard weapns. Be careful when equiping unique items. Charon will go berserk if rudely approached by non-player characters. Special care must be taken or find everyone at the Rivet City Market, (except Flak and Shrapnel) dead. Using keyboard instructions does not seem to render Charon immortal; at least perhaps not after the patch. Upon replay Charon died at one of the relay stations for no discernable reason and his body could not be found. Returning to an earlier save, but taking especial care he died anyway. Perhaps it's cancer.

Selection

 * For a detailed list of the followers' equipment, see Fallout 3 follower equipment.
 * Carrying capacity will be, e.g., 30 pounds less if given Power Armor (25 for armor, 5 for helmet). Capacity is determined by: ( Base of 150 ) + ( 10 * Strength ) - ( Weight of inherent gear ) - ( Weight of anything else, including replacement armor or weapons )

Temporary followers
Temporary followers are followers that will join you during a quest. You may have them follow you indefinitely by not completing the quest. Unlike permanent followers, they do not heal automatically at the end of a battle.

It is important to note that some of the temporary followers can be given weapons and armor. In addition, these same followers can be utilized as "pack mules," with a weight capacity in the vicinity of 250lbs. Unfortunately, temporary followers are just that: temporary. Should you ever complete the quest the follower is tagging along for, everything the follower has in his possession becomes his. An example would be if escorting Sticky across the waste (under the pretense of taking him to Big Town), and you accidentally enter Big Town, Sticky and everything he has on him become his, and you'll have to kill him to retrieve your belongings.
 * Red
 * Shorty
 * Sticky
 * Sydney
 * Initiate Pek, Paladin Hoss, and an un-named BoS Paladin (Falls Church Only)
 * Cherry
 * James
 * Bumble

Equipment Effect Stacking Exploit
When you give a follower armor, headwear or glasses that have some effect that increases an attribute or skill, its effect will stack every time you enter the trade window with the follower. You don't actually need to trade anything, just tell him/her you need to trade equipment then exit. Leaving the conversation before trying again is unnecessary.

Damage Resistance is unaffected, and does not stack.

This makes it possible for a follower to maximize skills or attributes they normally wouldn't be able to. As an example, Charon could get over 100 in Big Guns by applying this trick if he is given Torcher's Mask or similar gear. Be careful if you do this with a piece of equipment that lowers an attribute, since negative effects will stack as well (for instance, Button's Wig will lower Perception).

This is probably most useful when a follower is given a single piece of equipment that increases Luck (Lucky Shades, Ranger Battle Armor, Three Dog's Head Wrap) and applied until they reach Luck 10 which gives them a 10% Critical Chance. Doing it further is pointless, since the Critical Chance will cap at 10 regardless of how many points the follower has in Luck.

Multiple Permanent Companion Exploit

 * Including Dogmeat and a permanent follower, it is possible to have a maximum of ten people following you without running into massive errors. Red, Shorty, Sticky, Sydney, Cherry, Initiate Pek, Paladin Hoss, and Paladin Hoss's anonymous co-paladin can all follow you around Falls Church area after rescuing Initiate Pek.  However, after five game days, Cherry will return to Dukov's Place, and it's best to directly or indirectly kill Paladin Hoss, Initiate Pek, and their tag-along Brotherhood Paladin before leaving Falls Church, or you'll encounter some interesting game issues (360+ps3 unpatched).  Because of this, the easiest sustainable number of followers is actually 6: Dogmeat, the permanent follower, Sydney, and the 3 Big Towners.  This is the largest known following attainable resorting to game exploits, not glitches or coding errors.

Multiple Permanent Companion Glitches
Normally it is only possible to have Dogmeat, temporary followers, and one permanent follower, but there are ways to get around this, as follows.

The following is possible in the latest patched version of the game.

When you first meet Star Paladin Cross, she will join you (as long as you have good karma) even if you already have Dogmeat and one other permanent follower. NOTE: In the conversation, you will come to a point where you have 2 conversation options:
 * "I want you to come with me."
 * "I don't suppose I could stop you."

You must choose the 2nd option in order to have SPC follow you even if you already have a humanoid companion. Apparently, she's only willing to overlook that if you play hard to get. (confirmed on PC and PS3, post-1.1 patch)

'The following are possible only in unpatched versions of the game. The following may not work for all platforms.'


 * 2 Companions (not including Dogmeat)
 * The general rule is that you can get any (or almost any) character to bypass the companion limit of 1 (giving you 2) the first time they offer to join, at least on the unpatched PC version. You may first need to speak to their owners while keeping a free "slot". This seems to be related to an expanded limit for temporary quest-related followers.
 * It is possible to exploit a bug in the game by having a player with good Karma acquire Charon as a follower, then advance in the Main Quest to the point where Star Paladin Cross offers to join you. Furthermore, this exploit is somewhat of a game-breaker, since for all but the hardest enemies the player can simply sit back and allow his companions to do all of the fighting, provided they are well-supplied with Stimpaks.
 * A player who first buys Sergeant RL-3 while neutral can also have Star Paladin Cross join, giving a party of three.
 * (5 follower glitch, Fawkes-Star Paladin Cross-Charon-Sergeant RL-3-Dogmeat) before you get to the part in the game where you first gain entrance to the citadel, DO NOT GO INSIDE YET, travel to underworld and acquire Charon, continue through to the citadel (Make ABSOLUTELY sure that you do not talk to Star Paladin Cross or the glitch will fail). Keep going through the main questline until you get to Vault 87, free Fawkes from his imprisonment, then proceed. At one point the enclave will capture you after you've acquired the G.E.C.K. and ill take you to Raven rock (You will lose Charon and he will reappear in underworld) after escaping raven rock you will see Fawkes shooting at enclave soldiers. Wait for her to finish them off and she will run toward you, but dont let her talk to you by fast traveling back to underworld. Get Charon back, then head to the citadel and find Star Paladin Cross (proceed by telling her 1st that you loved your dad very much, when she metions something about joining you answer with "I guess I couldn't stop you could I?" then select the karma dialogue and she should join you as well, even knowing that Charon is already with you. Now fast travel back to raven rock and Fawkes should run at you at ask to join your team, she will join even knowing Star Paladin Cross and Charon are already on your team. And last lower your karma down to neutral (kill innocent, or steal) and find the RobCo factory and your should see a guy and a bunch of robots wondering the parking lot, fire Charon then talk to the guy and buy Sergeant RL-3, but before Sergeant RL-3 can talk to you quickly go hire Charon back, then Sergeant RL-3 will walk up and grant his services to you even though you already have 3 other followers! *Simply acquire Dogmeat whenever you want*
 * It is also possible to acquire two followers if you are evil: first obtain Jericho then go buy Clover.
 * Fawkes will join you even if you already have another follower, you just need to pick up another character before speaking to him (tested with Charon and Star Paladin Cross).
 * For PS3 owners, you can have at least three followers - Charon (no Karma requirement), Clover (must have Evil or lower Karma) and Dogmeat (no Karma requirement). Sequence, speed and proximity are apparently crucial; get Charon first, then go to Paradise Falls. Fire Charon while standing next to Eulogy Jones, talk to Eulogy and buy Clover, then before talking to Clover (and if she's close enough she will initiate conversation, which negates the exploit), quickly re-hire Charon before he walks away. Then with both of them go to the Scrapyard and get Dogmeat.


 * 3 Companions (not including Dogmeat)
 * It is also possible to have four permanent followers (including Dogmeat) at the same time by getting one of any followers first (except Clover and Sergeant RL-3). Charon is a good choice as he has no Karma requirements. After getting the first follower, bring him to Paradise Falls. Find Eulogy and fire the current follower. Talk to Eulogy and if your Karma is Evil you can buy Clover. At this point, do not talk to Clover but ask the fired follower to join back before he walks away. Now you can have two permanent followers. After this, you can go to RobCo Factory. If you've managed to move your Karma from the Evil rating you need to acquire Clover into the Neutral range you'll need to acquire Sergeant RL-3, fire one of your followers, talk to Tinker Joe and buy Sergeant RL-3. Again, do not talk to Sergeant RL-3 and ask the fired follower back. You can get Dogmeat any time you want as it won't affect the followers cap. By doing this, you can have four permanent followers at the same time. If you want to change any of your followers, just fire him/her and ask the new one to join. But do not fire two followers at the same time as this will decrease the followers cap back to one only. This does not work on the PS3.
 * It is possible to get Jericho then Clover and Dogmeat then kill Dogmeat and hire Charon giving you three humanoid followers.
 * In the PS3 version it is possible to get 3 followers (not including Dogmeat) by simply hiring Charon then get neutral karma and go to the ROBCO factory. Quickly fire Charon and buy RL-3, BUT before RL-3 comes near you run and re-hire Charon, and you have 2 followers. Then get bad karma and repeat for clover, you have 3. When i tried star paladin cross's glitch(where she joined regardless of party members) I found that it doesn't work (PS3). Then go get Dogmeat if you want. I am unsure as to how this works on different versions of the game so it may not work.


 * 4 Companions (not including Dogmeat)
 * It is possible to get 4 companions with guns, not including Dogmeat, making nearly every fight a "wait till all the enemies are dead" kind of deal, in this way:
 * Get Charon->Clover/Sergeant RL-3/Dogmeat.
 * After getting all these, get Dogmeat killed.
 * Get Jericho.


 * 5 Companions (not including Dogmeat)
 * It is also possible to have five followers (Jericho, Charon, Clover, Butch and Star Paladin Cross). First, with low karma, get Jericho (1000 caps) from Megaton. Find Dogmeat and kill him. Then go to Underworld and get Charon (no karma requirement). Then go to Paradise Falls and find Eulogy. Fire Charon or Jericho and get Clover (low karma) using the exploit. Next, go to the ROBCO Facility next to Tenpenny Tower and buy Sergeant RL-3 (neutral karma) with the exploit when you bought Clover (fire Charon because you can hire him back with no karma requirements). Then after opening the vault on the Trouble on the Homefront quest in Vault 101, go to the Muddy Rudder in Rivet City and find Butch (neutral karma) [You can either keep Butch or Seargeant RL-3]. Then once you have four followers, go to the Citadel (after Waters of Life quest), and find Star Paladin Cross (high karma). During the conversation, say "I don't suppose I can stop you." Then you will have five followers, before the Finding the Garden of Eden quest.

''Following tested and still works post-patch. (TESTED: February 01, 2009)''
 * 6 Companions (including Dogmeat. Yup, there's no need to kill the dog)
 * To get 6 companions, you must not have used any fire/rehire glitch prior from your escape from Raven Rock.
 * 1) When you escape from Raven Rock, you will be in a short tunnel, just before reaching the hatch, you will get the "You have found Raven Rock" message. Don't move any further, just stay inside the tunnel. This will also allow you to re-enter Raven Rock. You will see 3-4 hostiles and 1 friendly in your radar. The friendly who is fighting the 3-4 enclave soldiers is Fawkes and is here to rescue you. WAIT for him to kill all hostiles. He will then walk towards you or stop moving. Quick travel to Underworld and hire Charon. Because you will need to change your karma back and forth, Charon is easiest to work with since he has no karma restriction.
 * 2) Get positive Karma and Fast travel back to Raven Rock. Fawkes will run up and initiate dialog. Let him join you. You might want to double check that the Raven Rock hatch is still open and that no invisible barrier is blocking you from going into the short tunnel and using the entrance door to Raven Rock.
 * 3) Get karma to evil, go to Eulogy in Paradise Falls. Fire Charon, quickly talk to Eulogy and buy Clover. Before Clover initiates dialog with you, rehire Charon. Clover will join you now. Since you are evil now, you might want to fire either Fawkes or Clover and hire Jericho. Depends on whether you want a more powerful party or a party that can all wear power armor. Do not fire more than 1 companion at any time, or you will permanently lose 1 companion slot.
 * 4) Get karma to neutral, go to Tinker Joe outside Robco building. Fire Charon, quickly talk to Tinker Joe and buy Sergeant RL-3. Before the Sergeant initiates dialog with you, rehire Charon. Same choice, you can keep Sergeant RL3 or hire Butch if you have already revisted Vault 101.
 * 5) Get karma to good, go to Star Paladin Cross in the Citadel. She'll tell you that Elder Lyons is looking for you and won't say anything else. Just look for elder Lyons and let the cutscence play out. When Sarah asks if you are ready, tell her you need a minute. Now look for Cross again and speak with her. Select the lines that talks about your dad. When you reach the part where you can ask her to join you or say "I don't suppose I can stop you", select the latter. She will then ask to join you out of her own accord, now you can accept. If you had asked her to join you instead of the other way around, you will get a "Only 1 follower allowed" message.
 * 6) Go get Dogmeat to join you. This can be done at anytime since he ignores the follower limit. However, he does create 1 if you kill him. So if you really want to, you can kill Dogmeat and get 1 of the remaining 2 companions (Butch or Jericho) in your party. Personally, I love Dogmeat and keep him around for his ability to find stuff. Hopefully someone can find a way to get the last 2 in without using the console.


 * Unlimited Companions (PC version only)
 * Using the console you are able to hire ALL companions that meet your karma requirements. You will need Dogmeat to do this, because when you first meet Dogmeat there isn't a check for a free companion slot.  If you then kill Dogmeat there will be a free slot, which can be used for another companion. Using console you have to resurrect Dogmeat, reset quest 943ed which reset Dogmeat dialogue like you met him for first time, hire Dogmeat, kill Dogmeat, and now you have another free companion slot. You can do this as many times as you need.
 * Open the console by hitting tilde key "~"
 * Kill Dogmeat: click on Dogmeat or type "prid 6a775", hit enter, then type "kill" exit console and hire desired humanoid companion or RL-3
 * Resurrect Dogmeat: type "prid 6a775", hit enter, then type "resurrect" hit enter, type "resetquest 943ed" and hit enter, exit console and hire Dogmeat
 * Also you can edit your karma by typing "Player.getav karma", then using "RewardKarma #" for increase by # units or "RewardKarma -#" for decrease and hire realy everybody and enjoy your crowded band ;)

After Raven Rock
''--Attention XBOX 360 Users--

SPOILERS AHEAD

'''If you intend to use the multiple party member tricks, remember that near the end of your main quest line you are forced to drop all party members (even if left at your residence) when you are kidnapped (tested with Dogmeat only. please confirm). At this point you will no longer be able to get 4 members back again.'''

If you wait till you are at the last step of the main quest line, you can get all 5 companions ((including Dogmeat)) if you wait until you exit from Raven Rock. The best order for achieving all 5 party members are as follows...

1) Get to the last step of the main quest line ((so you don't lose all your members when you get kidnapped by the Enclave))

2) As soon as you exit the Raven Rock facility use your fast travel to pop over to the Museum of history and grab Charon

3) Fast travel back to Raven Rock and let Fawkes talk to you, he will join you even with Charon in the group

4) Head to Tenpenny tower and wreck havoc until you are neutral ((Don't kill Herbert Dashwood, or Chief Gustavo because they are needed for a quest))

5) Go to the RobCo Facility and find Tinker Joe.

6) While standing next to Tinker Joe, Fire Charon.

7) Talk to Tinker Joe, and purchase RL-3.

8) Re-hire Charon before RL-3 starts his dialogue with you

9) Head back to Tenpenny tower and get your karma to evil

10) Head to Paradise Falls, go to Eulogy's Pad

11) While standing next to Eulogy Jones, fire Charon again.

12) Talk to Eulogy, purchase Clover from him.

Once you have done the above steps you can mix and match your party at will. NEVER remove more than one member from your party at a time because you will lose that extra party member slot.

Once you set Liberty Prime loose, you will no longer be able to recruit Star Paladin Cross, so be mindful if you want her in your party to save before you hail the Lyons lady the 2nd time. Also, once you set Liberty Prime loose all functions in The Citadel seem to cease. You can no longer shop there, or have any other real dialogue. All they say is "The Purifier is as good as ours!"
 * Note

This may not pertain to everybody, but after I downloaded Operation: Anchorage, I could recruit anybody without an amount restriction, but theKarma levels were still required. This was done on Xbox 360.
 * I'm still only able to obtain one current follower. Well, Charon won't join me with Cross in the party.