Actually I am talking about Dogmeat but I have come to hate that name and I associate it with the German Shepherd skin, but since reskinning to the cleaned up junkyard dog, I have renamed him (actually he's a her, take a look) to Muttley.

The point of this brief chat is merely to share an observation, namely that Muttley/Dogmeat is clearly and by far the bestest of companions. I never thought that I would come to this realization, never mind sharing it on a public forum but after extensive adventuring with him this is my conviction.

I tried all the others except Strong (there's no frikkin way I am walking into Diamond City on the arm of a smelly super mutant) and the courser dude (he seems polite though). I cannot stand Codsworth's pompous patronising manner, I despise Curie's phony trying-to-be-oh-so-sixy French accent, Maccready and Cait start out ok but when the maudlin guilt trips kick in and they crack like over emotional egg shells I lose it for them. Piper is kinda ok but I resent people with a sense of entitlement like her. As for Preston Garvey with his hysterically funny moon dance.... enough said....

The guy from Good Neighbor seems cool but I could never date a ghoul, sorry....

Danse just gives me a pain with his saber rattling patriotic [censored].

So think about it, with a small investment in doggy skills you have this perfect companion. Unlike the other useless companions he actually has your back and keeps the enemies off it. He never does a kamikaze charge into enemies you are trying to avoid. There are no repetitive wisecracks and he never asks you to lick his emotional wounds. Clearly he is a lot smarter than the rest as he never reacts with some stupid, ignorant comment about you collecting "junk" when you're actually collecting vital salvage.

Anyway, that is my late night ramble, nighty....

fair enough, except i find the constant whine (dog noise not complaint) of dogmeat much more annoying than say pipers (who i travel with) comments

also when i was using dogmeat she was constantly in my way and all around my feet, much worse than other companions (which are still awful)

the junk thing is annoying though

I've been using Dogmeat for the first time on a recent character. For the most part I'm really enjoying traveling with him. It really does feel like I have my best pal right along side me (keeping those Lone Wanderer benefits is nice as well). I was surprised how well he can distract and hold down an enemy while I come in and lay down the pain.


There are the usual issues, though. His ability to sneak will never compare to mine. Luckily he doesn't break my cover, enemies will just go after him not knowing I'm there. I also find myself tripping over him regularly, and a few times he's accidentally moved me when I'm trying to line up a shot. I've also learned that the best thing to do during dungeon crawls is to bring him through in stages -- have him wait, clear an area, grab him and move through, repeat. I could also do without his whimpering when he's down, it's very annoying.


All in all I agree OP, Dogmeat is an excellent follower.


Does anyone bother giving him armor? I did for a bit but I didn't notice a difference, besides he looks ridiculous. Now I just have him wearing the spiked collar.

I had every problem you describe and I hated Dogmeat to the extent that I never bothered to collect her from the Red Rocket. Now it gets weird, on my latest playthrough I changed the skin to the brindle junkyard mutt and these problems evaporated, I swear I'm not kidding. I maxed out the doggy skills and she's worth more than all the rest combined. She does have a few issues regarding her manners around women, but that is more boisterousness and affection than rudeness. I also confess that when I have just recycled a feral into a mass of steaming green goo and she steps into it and takes a deep sniff, I cringe in sheer yukkiness...

Regarding armor, I think it does seem to make her more durable...