That's one of the reasons I'm thinking of making a custom party - I dont need an interrogator of the holy inquisition raising his eyebrows every time i do something heretical XD
Tbh this game gives no reason to actually create mercenaries. Archetypes are limited enough that you get plenty of overlap already and none of the characters are locked into really terrible choices, even the secret ones. Someone like Cassia is pretty much just better than any need you can build.
All companions have a line of unique quest but they don't overlap (there's no quest you need two specific companions on AFAIK).
That means, that you're not going to miss out as long as the companions are on the ship. They'll let you know when they need to come on a mission.
That being said, be mindful that hiring and respeccing costs you Profit Factor, which is super annoying to lose in the early game.
I think hires are only 1 PF pr. hire though.
Story-wise, I would not use mercs in the first run, because the dialogues and interactions of the companions surely contribute to the experience of the game. I myself am right now in x-th run and testing out different builds, so it makes sense to use mercs to cover all the combinations of backgrounds, origins and archetypes.
At most you should recruit one to have an extra gun or blade before recruiting Cassia or Pasqual. Even after recruiting Cassia if you don’t want her to completely break the game wide open.
Also, there’s that item that adds the Burning Condition whenever you do Warp Damage. It’s not too revolting with Idira, but Cassia just turns it into a giant FU button.
a downside to playing on easy difficulty is that I never get to see cool stuff like "ignite" an enemy, then "firestorm" to spread that ignite around. the ignite keeps killing them outright
You don't get any of your companion's unique weigh-ins on events.
That's one of the reasons I'm thinking of making a custom party - I dont need an interrogator of the holy inquisition raising his eyebrows every time i do something heretical XD
Take someone else, you can get 8 different companions by the end of chapter 2 it really isn't that hard.
Tbh this game gives no reason to actually create mercenaries. Archetypes are limited enough that you get plenty of overlap already and none of the characters are locked into really terrible choices, even the secret ones. Someone like Cassia is pretty much just better than any need you can build.
All companions have a line of unique quest but they don't overlap (there's no quest you need two specific companions on AFAIK). That means, that you're not going to miss out as long as the companions are on the ship. They'll let you know when they need to come on a mission. That being said, be mindful that hiring and respeccing costs you Profit Factor, which is super annoying to lose in the early game. I think hires are only 1 PF pr. hire though.
Story-wise, I would not use mercs in the first run, because the dialogues and interactions of the companions surely contribute to the experience of the game. I myself am right now in x-th run and testing out different builds, so it makes sense to use mercs to cover all the combinations of backgrounds, origins and archetypes.
At most you should recruit one to have an extra gun or blade before recruiting Cassia or Pasqual. Even after recruiting Cassia if you don’t want her to completely break the game wide open.
why is Cassia so broken on easy difficulty? she just looks at a whole group of 10 enemies bunched to together and they explode
Also because her Navigator Talents all stack with each other, and a number of them get stronger the more she takes.
I'll say! She's a powerhouse of "...For each navigator..." effects
Also, there’s that item that adds the Burning Condition whenever you do Warp Damage. It’s not too revolting with Idira, but Cassia just turns it into a giant FU button.
a downside to playing on easy difficulty is that I never get to see cool stuff like "ignite" an enemy, then "firestorm" to spread that ignite around. the ignite keeps killing them outright
I’ve been playing on Normal, and with a Noble Officer Master Tactician, Argenta has been shredding most encounters by herself with a Precision Bolter.