What is your perfect team? I usually go with Dogmeat, Fawkes, and Charon. Here's why:

Dogmeat is one of the best companions you can get. Not only does he not count towards the companion cap, but he can find weapons, ammo, and medicine as well. Also, if you have the Broken Steel add-on, he is, in essence, immortal. Personally I find this to degrade the challenge of the game a little, seeing as Dogmeat has near infinite health and there is no chance of him dying in most combat situations. No need to keep him safe in a fight, or even watch his health. He can even hold his own against a Super Mutant BEHEMOTH! However, if you don't have Broken Steel, Dogmeat's health is substantially lower.

Fawkes is an amazing companion, in my personal opinion. He is an excellent tank. Give him a big gun and he's a force to be reckoned with. He's also an oddity in the fallout universe - a smart super mutant. Fawkes is my personal favorite because he is both strong and smart... and, well, because he's a Super Mutant companion, which I think is pretty freakin' sweet.

Charon is a pretty decent companion, but the main reason I usually get him is for the diversity. There are plenty of human companions, but I like to be different. So I usually have a Super Mutant and a Ghoul (and a dog, of course, but a lot of traders have dogs, too). Charon's pretty good with some power armor, too. So when you've got Power-armored Charon and a Fawkes tank, you've got a small army of two, and in most fights you can just sit back and watch. Throw Dogmeat in there and he makes a great decoy for the enemies to unload their rounds in while Charon and Fawkes deal some real damage.

So, what's your dream team? I've been thinking I might have a female companion in one of my games, just to give my character a "girlfriend", even though I'm pretty sure you can't flirt with the female companions or anything like that, and besides, in my opinion, Amata and Bittercup are the two most likely candidates to be the male Lone Wanderer's love interests. Which female companion do you think is the best?

The companion i used the most was Butch, you either hate him or love him.

His default equipment isn't great, but he seems to do pretty well most of the time.