Outer Worlds Companions | How To Find & Recuit • GamePro

That big ol’ ship you’ve lucked your way into sure is lonely without a couple of Outer Worlds companions by your side. Yet, with a little elbow grease, and a few kind gestures, you’ll have The Unreliable stocked up with ne’er-do-wells and compatriots in no time!

The first of these friends can be found in Edgewater, and, well, they’re reasonably hard to miss. However, once you’ve left that backwater hamlet, you might just whizz past the other additions to your motley crew. Now we wouldn’t want that, would we?

Here’s how to find and recruit all companions in The Outer Worlds! 👇

The Outer Worlds Companions List

In The Outer Worlds, there are 6 companions to recruit and if you’re going to have the most enjoyable of experiences throughout the game, I suggest finding them all. From a shotgun-wielding maniac to a hunter that’s had a little too much liquor, each companion in The Outer Worlds comes with unique perks to help you along the way.

But how do you find them?

Here is a list of all 6 companions in The Outer Worlds:

Parvati – The Ace Mechanic
Vicar Max – The Shotgun Preacher
Ellie – The Wayward Mechanic
Felix – The Boyish Sidekick
Nyoka – The Drunken Hunter
SAM – The Automatic Assistant

Scroll down to learn how to find each companion within The Outer Worlds or click the links above to skip to the companion that’s still playing hide and seek! 👇

Parvati

The Ace Mechanic

Your first friend will usually be the buoyant, and chatty mechanic Parvati Holcomb. And, you don’t want to miss her as she is the best companion in The Outer Worlds which happily blends nicely with a variety of build combinations too!

To recruit Parvati in The Outer Worlds, you’ll have to first visit the Mayor.

As you roll into town, fresh out of cryo and hot off of (accidentally) murdering Captain Hawthorne, head on over to the top of the cannery where you will find Parvati will be discussing the town’s power problems inside.

Once you engage with Parvati, this sets off the next step in “Stranger in a Strange Land quest” and Parvati will join you on your mission to procure a power regulator. From then on, she’ll be your ally, and you’ll enjoy some boosts to your engineering, lockpicking and persuasion by assigning Parvati to your crew.

Parvati Companion Perks:

By setting Parvati as your companion, you will gain the following perks:

Bonus Support Engineering: +10 Engineering
Mod Finder: +10% Chance to extract Mods in the Field
Synchronicity: +25% Tactical Time Dilation Meter

Vicar Max

The Shotgun Preacher

Maxmillian DeSoto is the clergyman for the Edgewater Church.

To find Vicar Max in The Outer Worlds, he will be sat behind a desk, with a sour look on his face, inside the Edgewater Church. But don’t worry, he’ll brighten up if you show interest in helping him find a forbidden book.

Once you have shown an interest, the next step is to complete ‘The Illustrated Manual‘ quest. This is a short trip that takes you outside of the Edgewater gate through a pack of marauders, and to the collector’s house.

Once you are there, pick the safe, take the book (the collector won’t be needing it), and return to Vicar Max. With the book in his back pocket, Max has no reason to stay on Edgewater, and joins your adventures with his biting remarks and itchy trigger finger.

Vicar Max Companion Perks:

By setting Vicar Max as your companion, you will gain the following perks:

Bonus Support Hack: +10 Hack
Sermon: +20% Dialog Combat Effect Duration
Mad Max: +20% Science Weapon Damage

Ellie

The Wayward Mechanic

Ellie Fenhill hates owing people anything, so when you first meet her, she’s arguing with a Doctor in the GroundBreaker’s Medical Bay over seeing someone she doesn’t even like. But she owes them, and if you want to recruit her, you’ll need to find a way into the backrooms to check on Jessie.

Sneaking in means you’ll need to grab the holographic shroud from The Unreliable’s captain’s quarters, after that find an ID cartridge and chat to Jessie.

She has money problems, lots of debt. Do a little more talking to Udom Bedford and sort out the issue. Whether you pay him off, or sell her into indentured servitude doesn’t matter (surprisingly), and either way, Ellie will be even with Jessie. That said, since you helped Ellie out, she kind of owes you, which means you have a new medic on your crew and she’s back to square one.

Ellie Companion Perks:

By setting Ellie as your companion, you will gain the following perks:

Bonus Support Medical: +10 Medical
First Responder: +20% Heal amount granted by Medical Inhaler.
CPR: Recover 25% Health when fatally wounded.

Felix

The Boyish Sidekick

Once you’ve solved Edgewater’s power dispute, and made off with someone’s power regulator, your next stop will be the orbital station, The Groundbreaker.

Felix Millstone, can be found hanging around the docking bays, arguing with the security and just waiting to join your crew. He’s almost a street urchin and hates The Board and basically any company because of it. He’ll also ask (practically beg) to live on the Unreliable with you the second you’ve finished either the Balance Due, or the Passage to Anywhere quests.

So, to recruit Felix, there isn’t much you have to do but pander to his groaning and potentially suffering some of the troublemaking he causes.

Felix Companion Perks:

By setting Felix as your companion, you will gain the following perks:

Bonus Support Persuade: +10 Persuade
Bootlickers!: +20 Damage to Cowering Enemies
Rebellion: +20 Damage to Corporate Military

Nyoka

The Drunken Hunter

Once you’ve managed to make landfall at Stellar Bay– either by braving the Mantisaur infested wasteland, or by getting a Nav Key off Gladys– You’ll be able to find Nyoka in The Yacht Club, futuristic frontier saloon where she’s stewed and stumbling.

If you want to recruit this expert hunter (and drinker), at your side, you’ll have to tell her that you need a hunter, and complete the Passion Pills quest for her. The quest can be completed with a medium intimidation, hack, or lockpicking skill, and once you’ve tricked the poor pharmacist out of her few remaining caffeine pills, Nyoka can sober up and join up with you.

Nyoka Companion Perks:

By setting Nyoka as your companion, you will gain the following perks:

Bonus Support Lie: +10 Lie
Hunter: -20% Radius of Footstep Sounds
Exterminator: +20 Damage to Creatures

SAM

The Automatic Assistant

Hanging around in a storage closet on the Unreliable upper deck is a maintenance mech that’ll fight at your side if you can finish ol’ Hawthorne’s upgrades on it.

Your first step toward recruiting SAM is to check out the mech and start The Cleaning Machine quest. This has you visit the Raptidon-ruined town of Roseway to pick up an order. Once you make off with the Acid Steeper, you can return to SAM and retrofit it. With his weaponry firmly in hand, SAM is battle ready and will happily be your shiny new machine manservant.

SAM Companion Perks:

By setting SAM as your companion, you will gain the following perks:

Bonus Support Intimidate: +10 Intimidate
Bad Samaritan: +20 Damage to Automechanicals

Best Outer Worlds Companions Ranked

What you will often find is that the best combination of Outer World’s companions are those that pander to any areas where you are lacking. For example, if your own statistics have you more as sweet talker than a battle-hardened soldier then opt for 2 companions that help with the fighting.

Other than that, be sure to explore each of them to find the right balance for your own personal play style. And, don’t forget, you can always interchange companions at any stage throughout the game.

To give you a helping hand, check out our own rankings.

In order of best to worst, are favourite Outer Worlds companions are:

Parvati
Vicar Max
Nyoka
Felix
Ellie
SAM

As much as we loved having a sanitising battle bot by our side, SAM, unfortunately, does not come with its own companion quest which was a bitter disappointment. While he does provide great support against other machines in combat, SAM is pretty boring and about as rigid as his armour. There, it is with regret that SAM ranks last on our list.

As for Parvati, however, not only is Parvati the best companion in the game but she is by far the best character as well. From boosting your persuasive stats to engineering, Parvati will assist in finding additional mods when scavenging and a personality that just warms your heart.

Yes, if you pick any of these companions, pick Parvati!

Who is your favourite companion in The Outer Worlds?

Drop a comment below with your recommendations and once you’re done, don’t forget to check out some of my other roundups, game reviews and technology deep dives:

Outer Worlds Companions: How To Recruit All 6 Companions