I'd rather not have companions being that I'm playing a stealthy character on hardcoe for my first play through. The last thing I need is some AI controlled spaz mucking up my strategy. However, I'm wondering if I'll miss out on any interesting quests and locations by going solo. If so, I would consider taking a companion just to open up these areas. Can any advise me without giving any plot/story spoilers (being that it's my first play through)? Thanks.

-you will be missing out some quests and dialog. quite a bit actually

-Also companions are very strong, if you have have 10 charisma even extremely strong. Most of the game you can bring them along even for a stealthy player since they can stealth to. There are some parts however that need a little more finesse and then its a good idea to tell them to wait until your back.

- There is also something you need to understand: if an enemy detects your companion that does not mean he automatically detects you. So getting a sneak head shots of with a companion can sometimes be easer than without one.