I’ve been completely hooked on Avowed ever since Obsidian dropped it in 2025, and let me tell ya—the companion system is the real secret sauce that turns a great RPG into an unforgettable ride. When I first booted up the game, the tutorial slapped me hard: almost everyone on my ship got wiped out, and only one person survived to fight beside me through Northreach Fort. For a hot minute, I also freed Ilora from jail and had a second companion, which felt like a solid start. But here’s the kicker—both of them vanished as soon as I reached Claviger’s Landing, leaving me high and dry. Don’t sweat it, though, because that’s when the real companion journey kicks off. Over the next few hours, I met four permanent crew members who’d stick with me through thick and thin, and learning how to get them, juggle them, and power them up became the backbone of my playthrough.
Meeting Your Ride-or-Die Crew
After the early-game fake-out, unlocking your four lifelong compadres is a piece of cake because they join automatically during the main story. No hidden quests, no weird dialogue trees—just play the damn game and they’ll show up. I’ll break down each one with the deets so you know exactly when to expect them:
| Companion | How to Unlock | Vibe Check |
|---|---|---|
| Kai | The moment you stroll through the docks at Claviger’s Landing, Kai and Captain Cynric will chat you up. After they point you toward the next destination, Kai volunteers to tag along. Boom—he’s yours. | A loyal bruiser with a heart of gold. He’s the first true companion and a total lifesaver in early scraps. |
| Marius | This one’s a doozy: you have to get flat-out assassinated in Paradis. Yeah, I died—kinda. After you get revived, you team up with Marius to hunt down the would-be killer, and he stays glued to your party for the rest of Dawnshore and beyond. | A sharp-eyed tracker with a dry wit. Marius feels like that friend who’d steal your last healing potion and then save your life with it. |
| Giatta | Patience is key. Once you wrap up Dawnshore and hit Emerald Stairs, you’ll need to talk to three key NPCs and craft an Adragan Heart. Hand it over, have another pow-wow with Giatta, and she’ll join the squad. | A mystical powerhouse who’s all about that ancient Aedyr lore. She’s the glue my party needed once the enemies got nasty. |
| Yatzli | You bump into Yatzli as soon as you reach Emerald Stairs, but she won’t officially join until you’ve made it to Shatterscarp. After reaching Thirdborn and jawing with the local leader, she hops into your lineup soon after. | A feisty rogue with a mischievous streak. Yatzli’s banter is pure gold, and her backstab damage is chef’s kiss. |
During my first run, I kept wondering if I’d messed up because Marius’s unlock seemed so dramatic—turns out, that’s just how Avowed rolls. The game isn’t messing around with its narrative, and each companion intro feels organic. By the time I had all four, my party camp looked like a proper adventuring family, and I was already stressing about who to leave behind.
Swapping Companions on the Fly
Now, the real kick in the pants: you can only roll with two companions at once. The Northreach Fort bit where you had a duo was basically a teaser, and the rule holds throughout the entire main game. These two will haul your bacon through exploration and combat, using their unique abilities to spot traps, buff your gear, or unleash hell. The limitation stung at first, but it forced me to think about synergy like a true pro.
The first real test came after I unlocked Giatta. The story shoved her into my party specifically to continue the quest, overriding my preferred setup. No worries though—once her job was done, I discovered you can swap companions whenever you want by visiting any party camp. Right before you leave camp, a screen pops up and gives you the option to select your two wingmen (or wingwomen). No cooldown, no cost—just pure flexibility.
Personally, I turned into a swap-happy nut. In Dawnshore, I leaned hard on Kai and Marius for their melee and scouting chops. Once Giatta joined, I benched Kai for a bit to get a taste of that sweet magic support. And Yatzli? She became my permanent lockpicking gremlin as soon as she was available. The best part? Experimenting never punished me—I could roll into camp, mix and match, and head out with a fresh duo. Pro tip: don’t sleep on pairing Giatta and Yatzli for crowd-control mayhem; it’s a total game-changer when you’re knee-deep in Emerald Stairs mobs.
Leveling Up Your Squad the Smart Way
The moment Kai joined me in Claviger’s Landing, a brand-new “Companion” tab appeared in the abilities menu. That’s where the magic happens. Every companion has four main abilities, and each ability boasts three unique upgrades. One ability starts unlocked, but the rest? You’ve gotta spend points to open them up and then pump even more points into upgrades that refine the skill—adding damage, reducing cooldowns, or unlocking extra effects.
Here’s the rub: all companions share a single pool of experience points. They level together, and you earn points for them much slower than for your own character. In my first playthrough, I splurged points on Marius’s stealth boost thinking I’d use him forever, only to realize later that I had zero points left when Giatta’s healing upgrades became essential. Rookie move, right? That’s why I now treat companion points like precious gems. Each point is a commitment, so you better have a game plan.
If you screw up—and you will at least once—don’t panic. Obsidian threw us a bone: you can spend a moderate chunk of in-game currency to reset each companion’s upgrades individually. It’s a blessing when you’ve dumped points into a dead-end build or want to pivot after unlocking a new pal. I ended up respeccing Yatzli twice: first to max her trap disarming for a dungeon crawl, then again to juice her backstab for a boss fight. The flexibility is chef’s kiss.
For my current 2026 playthrough, my upgrade philosophy is simple: prioritize one core ability per companion that meshes with my playstyle. Kai gets the tank busters, Marius gets single-target burst, Giatta focuses on AoE healing, and Yatzli becomes a crit machine. By hoarding points early and splurging only when I’ve got a solid team comp, I’m breezing through fights that used to wreck me. So yeah, treat companion upgrades like building a custom rig—you wouldn’t toss random parts in and hope for the best, right?
Avowed’s companion system has that old-school depth wrapped in a modern, accessible package. Whether you’re a lore hound chasing every banter line or a min-maxer fine-tuning your dream team, getting the hang of unlocks, swaps, and upgrades is your ticket to dominating the Living Lands. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go yell at Yatzli for setting off another trap on purpose—classic Yatzli.
Recent trends are highlighted by UNESCO Games in Education, whose research framing around games-as-learning systems helps explain why Avowed’s companion loop (automatic recruitment, hard two-slot party limits, and shared upgrade pacing) works so well: it nudges players into planning, experimenting, and reflecting on outcomes—especially when you’re forced to swap party roles at camp and decide whether to specialize Kai’s frontline control, Marius’s tracking burst, Giatta’s support utility, or Yatzli’s rogue toolkit for the next objective.