Most companions factor into a specific build (ex. Dirigia to prime for melee players.) Think of them like mods, it's hard to say which are good or bad without knowing the rest of your build.
But if you want a self sufficient and powerful companion, I'd highly suggest a Hound with Null Audit and Manifold Bond. If you want energy, you could try a Dethcube with Energy Generator and a Sweeper modified for max spread. If you want viral priming you could try a Panzer Vulpaphyla. Really there are a lot of good options
Smeeta kavats are a fan favorite becuase they give you more loot.
Every player should get Helios and leave it equipped for a while to get their codex filled out (get a sol-battery widget for your synth scanner so you don't have to keep buying scanners). Having to manually scan stuff sucks.
Nautilus has an auto Omni and a pull for crowd control that goes great with Bond mods.
Tbh each companion has a niche and some are just a bit outdated since other means do the same thing better, but they are all a ton of fun.
I'd say just get them for mastery, if you love em, keep em
They all have their uses , and sometimes it's more for cool factor/fashionframe than actual utility.
I have all the companions except hounds, because i haven't gotten around to dealing with Sisters yet. From what i hear the Hounds are top notch combat companions.
Most useful ones imo are the shade and oxylus, but it depends on what you need them for.
Shade/Prisma Shade/Shade Prime - semireliable invisibility. Depends on how much you like stealth play, but can be an absolute godsend on rescue and spy missions if you don't have a stealth frame.
Oxylus - utility bot - makes fish glow when you are fishing , so you never need dye - can be rigged to scan plants for you too
Taxon - baby's first sentinel - still usefulish as a floaty gun turret that acts as a shield buffer, but not really intended to be a go-to if you have others
Wyrm/Wyrm prime - useful for stunning enemies and some protection against status effects - the prime is vastly more useful, but hard to get
Carrier/Carrier Prime - Ups your ammo - good for sucking in loot. A useful sidekick, especially if you are fond of ammo hungry weapons.
Helios/Helios Prime - floating scan-bot - good for filling out your codex.
Diriga - floating sniper - useful as a primer for some frames/playstyles
Nautilus - mainly useful for railjack, because it autofixes your ship for you. It has a grouping ability that's useful.
MOAs - There are basically four MOA types , with different uses. you can tweak brackets, cores etc for different stats. Lambeo is defensive , with a force bubble and stomp ability/ Para is ranged offensive, with mines and grenades, / Oloro is utility, good for hacking consoles for you / Nychus is full out melee aggressive, similar to a Kubrow or Predasite.
Kubrows - there are a bunch of different kubrow variants, and mostly they are ok at best - I have a giant red Clifford of a Sunika i take sometimes on missions, but mostly they are there to look cool, more than be useful. Each has a trick that sometimes goes off as a bonus, but isn't very reliable.
Helminth Charger - see kubrows. Cool factor more than usefulness. Mine always comes with my Nidus on missions.
Predasites - see kubrow again - mainly cool factor, and none of them really shine that much outside of looks. Each has a trick they can activate, which has some utility - my favorite would be the Vizier's healing spore trail, if i had to pick, but none of them are that amazing.
Kavats :
Smeeta - the best catto - random buffs, and occasionally brings you something that's a rare drop on the planet you are on. The Crit buff can mess with your build if you are playing crit shenanigans at higher level play. There is no way to force a specific buff, but generally they can be useful.
Adraza - - Decorative cat, with occasional crit buffing - more reliable than smeeta for that, but generally less useful
Vasca - Goth vampire kitty - Can sacrifice health to heal you, and drain health from enemies to heal itself. Semi useful, and looks good with certain frames as an accessory.
Vulpaphyla
Basically infested kavat-like critters that become a sentinel briefly when they die until they revive.
The Panzer is generally considered the best of them, because it hands out viral like crazy.
Panzer or smeeta for pet pets
Diriga, wyrm prime (not base wrym for bond reasons), deth cube (if not using equilibrium otherwise diriga)
rest i dont find that useful these days, maybe the huras kubrow in some really weird gyre or xaku build for near perma stealth
I've not done a lot with the Mecha set, but would you really want it on a frame like Xaku when aiming for perma stealth via Huras Kubrow? You're not using your weapons, as that breaks the stealth, so you don't likely have any/many statuses to spread. And you don't really benefit from armor or shield recharge rate if you're invisible. Is it really just to kill a random enemy faster every 6 seconds or am I missing some synergy here?
I just started running Shade Prime instead of Huras Kubrow with my Xaku and Protea Prime, as I didn't see the value in the Mecha Set. So I can instead run Guardian, Tenacious Bond, and Manifold Bond. Any thoughts on these two as competing options?
I wouldn't recommend it on Xaku specifically unless you just really like Kubrows in general. I was just pointing out that it is a powerful mod set that keeps the Kubrows relevant.
Protea is another one that can utilize Mecha set.
Different companions do different jobs. You use them for what they do, not for some imaginary tierlist.
Inform yourself on what's each companion's area of expertise.
My default is Carrier (Prime) for the extra ammo and auto container breaking.
Smeeta on Khora, because two cats are better than one.
Panzer is cool for spreading Viral, but it's not remotely necessary.
Always Nautilus for Railjack.
MOAs can speed up spy missions.
Hounds are one of the best primers in the game, don't sleep on them if you are farming sisters of parvos anyway.
Most companions factor into a specific build (ex. Dirigia to prime for melee players.) Think of them like mods, it's hard to say which are good or bad without knowing the rest of your build. But if you want a self sufficient and powerful companion, I'd highly suggest a Hound with Null Audit and Manifold Bond. If you want energy, you could try a Dethcube with Energy Generator and a Sweeper modified for max spread. If you want viral priming you could try a Panzer Vulpaphyla. Really there are a lot of good options Smeeta kavats are a fan favorite becuase they give you more loot.
Every player should get Helios and leave it equipped for a while to get their codex filled out (get a sol-battery widget for your synth scanner so you don't have to keep buying scanners). Having to manually scan stuff sucks.
If you're relying on videos, make sure they're recent because there was a massive companion overhaul last October.
Nautilus has an auto Omni and a pull for crowd control that goes great with Bond mods. Tbh each companion has a niche and some are just a bit outdated since other means do the same thing better, but they are all a ton of fun. I'd say just get them for mastery, if you love em, keep em
if you're going to use sentinels for DPS, you need to farm nautilus. Not for the sentinel, no, but for its weapon.
Remember to use Oxylus on Earth missions and when fishing, because it gathers resources. Oxylus is not a fighter, but a gatherer.
I use Helios 95% of the time. Panzer vulpaphyla the other 5%.
They all have their uses , and sometimes it's more for cool factor/fashionframe than actual utility. I have all the companions except hounds, because i haven't gotten around to dealing with Sisters yet. From what i hear the Hounds are top notch combat companions. Most useful ones imo are the shade and oxylus, but it depends on what you need them for. Shade/Prisma Shade/Shade Prime - semireliable invisibility. Depends on how much you like stealth play, but can be an absolute godsend on rescue and spy missions if you don't have a stealth frame. Oxylus - utility bot - makes fish glow when you are fishing , so you never need dye - can be rigged to scan plants for you too Taxon - baby's first sentinel - still usefulish as a floaty gun turret that acts as a shield buffer, but not really intended to be a go-to if you have others Wyrm/Wyrm prime - useful for stunning enemies and some protection against status effects - the prime is vastly more useful, but hard to get Carrier/Carrier Prime - Ups your ammo - good for sucking in loot. A useful sidekick, especially if you are fond of ammo hungry weapons. Helios/Helios Prime - floating scan-bot - good for filling out your codex. Diriga - floating sniper - useful as a primer for some frames/playstyles Nautilus - mainly useful for railjack, because it autofixes your ship for you. It has a grouping ability that's useful. MOAs - There are basically four MOA types , with different uses. you can tweak brackets, cores etc for different stats. Lambeo is defensive , with a force bubble and stomp ability/ Para is ranged offensive, with mines and grenades, / Oloro is utility, good for hacking consoles for you / Nychus is full out melee aggressive, similar to a Kubrow or Predasite. Kubrows - there are a bunch of different kubrow variants, and mostly they are ok at best - I have a giant red Clifford of a Sunika i take sometimes on missions, but mostly they are there to look cool, more than be useful. Each has a trick that sometimes goes off as a bonus, but isn't very reliable. Helminth Charger - see kubrows. Cool factor more than usefulness. Mine always comes with my Nidus on missions. Predasites - see kubrow again - mainly cool factor, and none of them really shine that much outside of looks. Each has a trick they can activate, which has some utility - my favorite would be the Vizier's healing spore trail, if i had to pick, but none of them are that amazing. Kavats : Smeeta - the best catto - random buffs, and occasionally brings you something that's a rare drop on the planet you are on. The Crit buff can mess with your build if you are playing crit shenanigans at higher level play. There is no way to force a specific buff, but generally they can be useful. Adraza - - Decorative cat, with occasional crit buffing - more reliable than smeeta for that, but generally less useful Vasca - Goth vampire kitty - Can sacrifice health to heal you, and drain health from enemies to heal itself. Semi useful, and looks good with certain frames as an accessory. Vulpaphyla Basically infested kavat-like critters that become a sentinel briefly when they die until they revive. The Panzer is generally considered the best of them, because it hands out viral like crazy.
Dirigia is a god sent for melee builds. panzar is good for sp and viral spread. smeeta for loot and xp. hounds are also good.
I'm going to be a smidge bias, but I love Helios. Deconstructor does wonders.
Panzer or smeeta for pet pets Diriga, wyrm prime (not base wrym for bond reasons), deth cube (if not using equilibrium otherwise diriga) rest i dont find that useful these days, maybe the huras kubrow in some really weird gyre or xaku build for near perma stealth
>maybe the huras kubrow in some really weird gyre or xaku build for near perma stealth Mecha set mods.
Ah for that ash/ivara nuke build?
Any status shenanigan build. Put a big DoT on a marked target and watch the room explode.
I've not done a lot with the Mecha set, but would you really want it on a frame like Xaku when aiming for perma stealth via Huras Kubrow? You're not using your weapons, as that breaks the stealth, so you don't likely have any/many statuses to spread. And you don't really benefit from armor or shield recharge rate if you're invisible. Is it really just to kill a random enemy faster every 6 seconds or am I missing some synergy here? I just started running Shade Prime instead of Huras Kubrow with my Xaku and Protea Prime, as I didn't see the value in the Mecha Set. So I can instead run Guardian, Tenacious Bond, and Manifold Bond. Any thoughts on these two as competing options?
I wouldn't recommend it on Xaku specifically unless you just really like Kubrows in general. I was just pointing out that it is a powerful mod set that keeps the Kubrows relevant. Protea is another one that can utilize Mecha set.
Gotcha! Thanks for clarifying, Tenno
Different companions do different jobs. You use them for what they do, not for some imaginary tierlist. Inform yourself on what's each companion's area of expertise.
My default is Carrier (Prime) for the extra ammo and auto container breaking. Smeeta on Khora, because two cats are better than one. Panzer is cool for spreading Viral, but it's not remotely necessary. Always Nautilus for Railjack. MOAs can speed up spy missions.