Pausing the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsFpH4jm-QI video at 51 seconds, it says the Inspirational perk prevents companions (other than Dogmeat I'm assuming) from accidentally hurting you in combat. Given Bethesda's track record with goofy companion AI, the Inspirational perk may be a necessity. It would work much better if there was an option to disable friendly fire in normal gameplay.

Personally I think it's a decent balance mechanic, ya take companions with ya and gain all the benefits of that, in turn ya run the risk of getting caught by friendly fire from time to time.

I can see friendly fire working better in hardcoe mode versus normal gameplay. The last thing I want to worry about is accidentally being gunned down by my companion because a radscorpion popped up from around the corner while I was picking a lock.

Well maybe we should wait till the game is out before we flail our arms in panic over friendly fire, maybe its in normal mode because Beth made AI less likely to do it.

Lol! Flail our arms in panic? In case you haven't noticed, every single thread on this board are all speculation threads since Fallout 4 is not yet released. If Beth made companion AI less likely to gun you down, why even make the perk an option in the first place?

Well the main point of the perk is to make your companions do more dmg and be more effective, so naturally the rare times they do hit ya it could be dangerous, hench the first rank turns off friendly fire, not saying they never hit ya, but clearly Beth things its gonna be rare enough they can relegate the option to a perk.

Let's hope so. I'm still on the fence about a Day One purchase due to my previous beta testing experience with Skyrim's launch.

Personally, I'm hoping higher ranks of Inspirational prevent me from doing my companions harm. Though, considering that may very well be the only means of killing them, Bethesda might not have put in a perk like that.

Interesting. The main reason why I never gave explosives to companions was that they're too freaking stupid to use them properly. While not a fix this is a workaround.

I'm assuming that companion AI is good enough where shooting you with a bullet/laser on accident is a fairly rare occurrence and this perk isn't designed so much as to minimize the impact of these instances, as it is designed to allow you to give your companions more dangerous weapons and not have to worry about it.

For example explosives. If you decide to give your companions weapons that have a large area of effect, you should be prepared to suffer the consequences... unless you take this perk. Then there are no consequences to say having your companion use a rocket launcher all the time.

As such, I'm assuming that for regular weapons this perk might occasionally be helpful, but not necessary.

This is what I'm thinking, they won't really be hurting you too much to begin with unless they have explosives or something. But considering the extra damage, and that there are even more ranks to this perk, I think it's definitely a worthy perk for anyone with companions... and 8 Charisma.

Maybe also companions can set explosives so if you are in the blast area and dont have that perk you will get damage (and possibly die)

I like that this is as perk and not a friendly fire config option. I hope it means you have to consider carefully who you take with you and what kind of armaments you give them/let them use.

but it's fun... though a little dizzying... you should join us ! *Takes deep breath* The sky is falling, the sky is falling !!!

If you go by the description by Gkk7z at Vault 111.com, it says:

Increase the effectiveness and number of companions that can accompany you.

Ranks
Because you lead by example, your companion does more damage in combat, and cannot hurt you
You are now able to have two companions at any one time
Both of your companions will work cooperatively in battle and can even heal each other

Notes

All subsequent ranks have level requirements and may also include additional features. Full details to be confirmed.

I like having companions so I think this perk sounds awesome.

Oh gawd please no.friendly fire from companions in fo1/2 has already given me trust issues damn you ian....

The OPs comments indicate that they do not think friendly fire was an issue in past Bethesda games....go back to FO3 and give any companion a Rocket Launcher and some Rockets and find out that it has ALWAYS been there and that the companions are actually pretty good (sans AoE weapons) at NOT hitting the PC.

You guys are freaking out over something that has always been possible...

I'll probably pick this up if I use companions a ton, especially if I decide that explosives would be good to give to something with the intelligence of a toddler.

They hit YOU all they want...but Glob forbid you give THEM a glancing blow...

I hate playing second fiddle to my companion, so ~if~ I give them a weapon it certainly won't be a great one, and definitely won't be an explosive one (even a shotgun, if it has 'spread' to the blast). If I ~do~ use a companion, I pretty much want it there to talk to me, to comment on the world, to haul my stuff around. It wouldn't hurt if they could fight, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to make them even ~better~ at fighting (feel insecure enough when they instantly spin to attack foes while I try to find where the gunfire is coming from).... so I can't see the utility in this perk (for me, anyway).

I'd be tempted to use the Lone Wanderer perk (damage resistance and carry capacity without a Companion) but I ~do~ enjoy talking to companions (if they are done right) and I'm sure the extra carry capacity of a Companion is greater than the little bit extra the Lone Wanderer perk gives me. I just don't want a ~combat~ companion, really.

Again, take most of that site with a grain of salt. It's speculation and much of which has already been debunked to where he has had to go and change things. We've only seen the first rank so we don't know anything more than that.

Pffh, Ian? Try Marcus with a Bozar. Worst mistake I've ever made.

But I wouldn't mind friendly fire being in the game. Asks the player to be much more aware in combat and use a bit of strategy.

It ain't a thang for the gang to bang heaters// I keep my hands clean [censored], call me the gang leader - The Late Great Ruckus Half Man Half Amazing Man-dela

Pfft. If you're putting points into Charisma companions should be doing most of your dirty work when you can't talk or power armor yourself out of a situation

I can't support my comment theoretically, but I just hate this kind of game design.

If you as game designers on your own game, can't decide whether to add friendly fire or not, give the players an option, just like with quest markers. Don't waste a perk on it. It doesn't even make sense to include it as a perk? Your body suddenly recognizes your allies bullets and neutralizes them? Come on..

I imagine it's more like, you are SO inspirational that your companions take extra care not to hit you... without the perk? "Oops, hey, there, sorry boss-man, guess my finger slipped. Oops, why'd you walk into my line of fire, boss? Sheesh."