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 Xbox 360 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 damage).

Combat
Companions come with their default weapons and armor and will use these, depending on what role you ask them to play (melee, or ranged). They will also wear weapons or armor they are given that is superior to their standard armor. All human or ghoul NPCs are capable of wearing Power Armor (this includes temporary followers such as Sticky, but excluding Fawkes as he is a Super Mutant). Armor and weapons worn by companions never degrade with use. A Companions default weapons and armor are considered to be at full condition. Companions have unlimited ammo for their standard weapon but you'll have to supply them the appropriate ammo for any other non-default ranged weapon.

If a companion is given several weapons and the appropriate ammo, they will generally choose a weapon 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. 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 unique laser pistol) over the Laser Rifle, despite its reduced range AND damage per round rating. It is currently not known exactly what equation the followers use to equip weapons, but it is not the DMG stat.

Some/all companions (except Dogmeat) will use any weapon if you give it to them (provided they have appropriate ammo for it). There are some exceptions however, for example companions cannot use the Gauss Rifle rewarded upon completion of the Operation: Anchorage DLC, but can utilize the sim-only version obtainable through glitching or console.

You can have companions become pack mules for your rarely used weapons (such as the heavy Fat Man) for you without fear of them using them by simply not giving them ammo for the weapon you don't want them to use. Note however that it is possible the companion will find and pick up ammo for the weapon in containers/ground/bodies thus allowing them to use the weapon. It is suggested that if they find Mini Nukes and equip the Fat Man, you should immediately take the  Mini Nukes, simply because they do not take into effect the Area of Effect of the Fat Man and will most likely get you or themselves killed.

Companions have significantly more health than "normal" NPCs. Even wearing their standard armor (like Clover's Dirty Pre-war Spring Outfit or  Butch's Tunnel Snake Outfit), they can survive several high-power rifle head-shots before dying. Give them any type of Power Armor, and they can withstand a LOT of punishment in combat.

Permanent companions are restored to full health at the end of combat, after all nearby enemies are dead(temporary followers must be healed with stimpaks, as they do not automatically heal.). 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 Stimpaks in their inventory in the middle of a battle, if you gave some to them earlier. Dogmeat can't carry stimpaks, 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, or moving far enough from them to see their HP bar. Companions are not considered 'vital' npc's, so they WILL die if their health is fully depleted and there is no way of reviving them (unless you load a saved game).

Companions will enter sneak mode when you enter sneak mode, and end it when you do. They may also randomly enter sneak mode during combat, presumably to avoid enemy fire or to gain better aiming.

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. Of course you can always hire more than one companion with the use of certain glitches; see Multiple Companion section below.

Your playing style 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.

Selection

 * For a detailed list of the followers' equipment, see Fallout 3 follower equipment.
 * Carrying capacity will be, e.g., 50 pounds less if given Power Armor (45 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. Most of them will follow you indefinitely until you complete their related quest, but not all. Unlike permanent followers, they do not heal automatically at the end of a battle.
 * James
 * Red
 * Shorty
 * Sticky
 * Sydney
 * Initiate Pek, Paladin Hoss, and an un-named BoS Paladin (Falls Church Only)
 * Cherry
 * Bumble (Actually a useless follower, since she cannot carry equipment and flees during combat. Note however that she can't be killed and can be used as a distraction.)
 * Sgt. Montgomery (Operation Anchorage simulation only)

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, or pickpocket him, in order to retrieve your belongings.

Equipment Effect Stacking Exploit
After a follower equips armor, headwear or glasses that has 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 or her you need to trade equipment then exit. Leaving the conversation entirely before entering the trade window again is unnecessary.

Damage Resistance is unaffected, and does not stack. The accumulated effects will stay with the follower even after you save and reload. Removing the item giving the effect will remove all accumulated effects from that item and put the follower back to normal.

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 equips 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 equips 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 beyond 10.

Another nice combination is to apply the trick after equipping the follower with Poplar's Hood in combination with Enclave Power Armor and Lucky Shades. This will maximize the follower's Strength and keep Agility untouched (since the Agility loss from the Power Armor is negated by the Agility gain from the hood). The follower will also maximize his or her critical chance from the added Luck from the glasses. This makes for a really strong melee character, perfect for Clover, as long as you don't mind her looking ridiculous.

On the PC version of the game, to see if this actually works, you can open the console and target the follower: for example, to target Charon. Look at the follower's Wiki article to find their exact id number. After you've targeted the follower, you can use the command to make queries about their skills and attributes (,, ,  etc.)

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


 * Dogmeat has a reserved companion slot, meaning you will be able to get him no matter if you already have a companion. However, his death frees that slot. By killing him you'll be able to get two companions.


 * 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, you must pick the second of the two:
 * "I want you to come with me."
 * "I don't suppose I could stop you."


 * When you meet Fawkes in the entrance of Raven Rock, he'll join you even if you have a follower. You'll need to fast travel away from the location, pick your companion and then fast travel back, before Fawkes talks to you. Save before doing this, though. Fawkes may attempt to follow the Enclave soldiers that run away, and dissapear (or be very hard to find).


 * Clover and Sergeant RL-3 can be acquired even if you already have a follower, by abusing a "fire/rehire" glitch. This consists of firing your current companion, hiring Clover/Sergeant RL-3 and rehiring your previous companion before the recently 'bought' one starts conversation with you.

Combining those glitches, it is possible to have up to 6 permanent followers, if you didn't use any of those prior to visiting Raven Rock. The method is explained below.

Following tested and still works post-patch.
 * 6 Companions (including Dogmeat).
 * 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.


 * Unlimited Companions (All plaforms)
 * With this glitch, you can get as many companions as you want, how many times you want. This means you can do this glitch prior to Raven Rock, then after it, without a problem. It is rather slow, though, so patience is necessary.
 * 1) Hire Sergeant RL-3.
 * 2) Go to the companion you want to hire, and tell Sergeant RL-3 to wait. Then talk to him again, and choose the second option("not just yet, I want to talk about something"). Then, fire him, and hire the other companion.
 * 3) Wait 7-8 days, on an inside location(being outside voids this, for some reason.) You should receive a "Sergeant RL-3 has returned to Canterbury Commons" message. This opens a companion slot.
 * 4) Go hire him again.
 * 5) Repeat steps 2-4 until you have all companions.
 * 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 ;)
 * NOTE: This is not possible if Dogmeat is immortal (setessential command). After you killed him he will feel unconcious and you aren't able to hire ANY other companion. After a while he will stand up and live again.

After Raven Rock
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. At this point you will no longer be able to get 6 members back again.'''

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

Video
A brief look at Fawkes.