First of all, keep Veronica and Boone out of this thread. They're not underrated; everyone and their mother acknowledges their strength. But the other four human followers? I barely ever hear anyone mention them in comparison to the other two.
So I'm curious: which follower do you see as the most kick-ass yet unacknowledged companion in the game?

Lily
Apart from I gave her my Oh Baby! to help me when i ventured into various vaults and then when I went to get it from her, it had disappeared. I know this is a pretty common problem, but its so annoying, especially as i was planning to make my character into a melee character. :banghead:

Anyway apart from that Lily is a very good companion because of her strength and insane melee skills.

Raul, I love that guy. The Obsidian writers made me love a ghoul. Now that's some writing talent!

His history, his voice actor, and even his small, unmarked quest. He's just my awesome cowboy buddy.

Agreed.

I personally think Raul, Arcade and Lily are all incredibly underrated. Raul can be good (sometimes feels better than Boone, because a missed shot for him isn't as big of a deal as it is for Boone) and Arcade is way better than people say he is.
But Lily?? Lily is basically a Veronica with more HP and the ability to use a ranged weapon if neccesary. She runs fast as hell too, whereas Veronica will spend ages taking cover before a chance comes up for her to charge the opponent. No idea why no one notices this.

Lily, followed by Raul in my view. Raul and Lily needed more pizazz, especially Lily. Raul had a nice sentimental thing, but it was mostly just a bunch of series of "I am old and my life svcks." Would have preferred to do more stuff than visit elderly people. Getting into a situation he talked about, but this time succeeding (or failing) would have made his quest line better, and would have allowed the player to see the action packed side of Raul.

Arcade, while not that great as a combat follower, is useful for his stim perk, his scripted quips when visiting certain locations, and his follower quest. He was a pretty well written and voiced character.

Cass, she's useful, but [censored]es more than 100 Arcades. Has a pretty good quest chain too.

i only got Arcade in 2 of my playthroughs mainly because he is the hardest companion to get, i usually don't invest in the speech skill and i hate going to freeside because of all the doors and my character isn't homo or a [censored]. but overall he is somewhat a resourceful companion and i liked his quest.

you should NEVER give a companion a unique weapon.

Friends with a Homosixual =/= Being a Homosixual

Just saying.

I dont know, there all appalling in their own way. I'm saying Arcade cause hes one of the funniest.

Lies, everyone knows it spreads.


Arcade. I don't see him used much and he's really surprisingly powerful, well capable of holding his own up to end game. The only stupid thing he did was somehow end up getting sneak headshotted by me and my hunting rifle, despite being behind me...still not sure how that happened...

Still, I liked the character, I liked the voice acting and lines, I liked the quest and end game involvement and I REALLY liked that he wasn't perfect, he called things wrong. I hate it when you get a character or whatever that's absolutely perfect, everyone messes up and even the smartest people can be wrong, I like that he can be.

Cass is underrated? I thought she was one of the popular ones. Give her a riot shotgun and she will give Boone and Veronica a run for their money any day.

Raul has perhaps the best perk of all companions.especially if you're using weapons that degrade quickly (sniper rifles, tri-beam laser rifles, etc.)

I said Arcade because no matter what i do he always shoots anything seriously...one time we went to go get cass...we went in and he shot her for no reason at all............[censored]....

If you'd been on deviant art you'd not think Arcade is underrated.
That guy rivals Boone and Vulpes within fangirl art. (yaoi and pinups.)

Cass does have the best dialoge lines, "That (Censored) Monument".

I know... now.

Did she get it shot out of her hands and not pick it up?!

Cass is new to me, only just started using her yesterday for a short time, she defo needs her weapons to be suited and booted for her though.

Lily, as much as i love her to be, is nothing in comparison to veronica, I found her to get KO'd easily and she doesn't seem to hit hard. Any ideas on this one peeps?

Arcade, powerful with that damn EW pistol, wished he were as effective with bigger weapons... but his comments everytime you crouch, well it did my nut in,
and not to mention him not liking you doing anything towards the legion other then killing them outright... far too much like Boone.

Raul i found the most comical and rather likeable, but he hasn't impressed me with his gun skills yet, and again with the comments everytime you crouch - not cool!

If anyone has a decent amount of experience with the above, could they advise me on how to make the most of these companions and how to upgrade them? cheers

Lily seemed to do well even with the Rebar Club. Also if you give her a melee weapon, its condition won't degrade which is brilliant as you don't even need to give her ammo, obviously.

How does that fair compare to what she's currently using tho? she seems pretty feeble with that sword of hers, anyone know the stats on it?
And how does her DT/HP fair compared to veronicas? who can obviously use T-5lb and remnants power armour...

Cass has the most fun perk - get drunk and go kick some ass :foodndrink: ... :toughninja:

One of the things that affects how powerful companions are is the player's Charisma. Charisma affects Companion Nerve from +5 at CHA1 to +50 at CHA10. That's the bonus to Armor and Damage inflicted by a Companion. I always go for high Charisma so they'll be strong and for the speech checks.

Most recently I was completely impressed by Rex and I wasn't before. He would sit down and I'd have to keep going back to find him. This last experience was that he was awesome. He had high health at my higher level and fought like a beast. He actually went over the side of the dam when leaping for a Legionairy and I thought he was gone but he found his way back and fought to the end. He takes enemies down alone most of the time. Raul is incredible because his Guns skill is so high and Arcade is fearless, often leading the way towards the enemy to take it out.

I'd have to say Lily is probably underrated by me, unfortunately, but I haven't used her enough. She hit me with her weapon last time and that put me off. I'll use her again though.

:fallout:

Short Range Cass is probably one of the most powerful companions. And by short range, I mean equipping her with a sawed off shotgun or a riot shotgun. Then she does about as much damage as Veronica with her power fist and Boone with his sniper rifle. But personally, I like Boone better since he can long range and Veronica because when I fail at sneaking inside buildings.

As has been said before...ramp up your CHA. Doing Raul's quest and choosing the dialog options that convince him he can still hang as a gunfighter so he takes up his guns again is a must. Also, give Raul a Trail Carbine, then a Brush Gun when you can get one, after that you can stand by and watch things die. Make sure you have plenty of .44 or .45-70 to keep him topped off.