Best Avowed Companions, Ranked by Helpfulness

In *Avowed*, Companions offer more than just engaging dialogue and narrative depth; they're invaluable assets, from navigating tricky pathways to dominating combat encounters. This ranking assesses each *Avowed* Companion, from least to most effective.

4. Marius

My experience with Marius proved his playstyle and benefits didn't align well with my own. While helpful early on for locating items and plants, he's quickly surpassed by other Companions. His combat effectiveness lags behind, despite useful crowd control. Here's a breakdown of his abilities and upgrades:

**Blinding Roots:** Roots enemies (upgradeable to stun, trap multiple, and inflict Bleed).

**Heart Seeker:** A piercing shot that always hits (upgradeable for multi-target, increased damage vs. low-health enemies, and reduced cooldown).

**Shadow Step:** Vanishes and attacks (upgradeable for instant kills on stunned enemies, increased damage vs. low-health enemies, and increased targets).

**Wounding Shots:** Inflicts Bleed (upgradeable to reduce enemy damage reduction, slow enemies, and reduce enemy damage).

Marius excels at crowd control and weakening foes, particularly useful against melee-focused, low-health enemies. However, his niche abilities limit his overall value throughout most of the *Avowed* journey.

3. Giatta

Giatta, a support-oriented Animancer, focuses on healing, shielding, and buffing the party. While not a damage dealer, her utility is significant, especially during challenging encounters. Her abilities are detailed below:

**Purification:** Heals allies (upgradeable for increased healing, enemy interruption, and increased ally damage reduction).

**Barrier:** Provides temporary health to allies (upgradeable for increased temporary health, healing on barrier expiration, and self-protection).

**Acceleration:** Increases ally movement and attack speed (upgradeable for damage reduction, extended duration, and ability cooldown reduction).

**Reconstruction:** Heals allies with attacks (upgradeable for increased healing for low-health allies, temporary health at max health, and ally revival on enemy kills).

Giatta also activates Essence Generators, unlocking late-game areas. She’s a strong choice for Envoys utilizing magic-based builds.

2. Kai

Encountered early, Kai remains valuable throughout *Avowed*. This tank deals substantial damage with minimal player intervention. His abilities are as follows:

**Fire and Ire:** High-stun attack with taunt (upgradeable for ignition, increased stun, and cooldown reduction).

**Unbending Defense:** Regenerates health and increases damage reduction (upgradeable for increased damage reduction, increased health regeneration, and area-of-effect damage).

**Leap of Daring:** Stunning area-of-effect attack with taunt (upgradeable for increased area of effect, temporary health per hit, and increased attack damage per hit).

**Second Wind:** Self-revival (upgradeable for increased health restoration, attack speed boost, and ability cooldown reset).

Kai’s abilities are effective against various enemy types, offering both single-target and crowd control options. His self-revival further enhances his value, minimizing the need for micromanagement. He can also use fire to clear obstacles.

1. Yatzli

Yatzli, a powerful Wizard, delivers high-damage attacks and excellent crowd control. She's the closest thing to air support in the Living Lands. Her abilities include:

**Essence Explosion:** Explosive arcane damage (upgradeable for increased blast radius, fire accumulation, and cooldown reduction).

**Minoletta’s Missile Battery:** Volley of homing missiles (upgradeable for increased fire rate, range, and shock accumulation).

**Arduos Delay of Motion:** Slows enemies (upgradeable for increased slow, area-of-effect slow, and frost accumulation).

**Blast:** Area-of-effect damage on impact (upgradeable for explosive damage to break blocks and shatter frozen enemies, increased stun, and status effect chances).

Yatzli’s potent abilities and obstacle-clearing capabilities make her an invaluable companion, despite being recruited late in the game.

*Avowed releases on PC and Xbox on February 18.*