How does the presence of a companion effect sneaking? Do enemies ignore the companion, or do they use the players ability? Or do they pretty much make it impossible to sneak?

|How do companions effect sneaking?
I'd say, rather somewhat, VERY [censored] BADLY!
AI svcks at the best of times, expecting a companion to understand your needs for stealthyness, sneakiness, and generally not acting like a [censored]? Near Impossible!
I tried to sneak through deathclaw quarry one time, stuck to the cliffs, crouching, sneaking, stealth boys, silenced pistol and the rest.. but made the mistake of taking that dratted machine Ed-E..
I see a bunch of Deathclaws in the distance, and wisely avoid them. What doese Ed-E Do? "do do do DOOO dooo!!" and storms out with it's tiny pea shooters blazing. Deathclaws smack down Ed-E very quickly. Realise somethings up, notice me. dead.


So no, best not to take companions if you want stealth. Imagine you're trying to sneak past something big and scary, and just imagine boone stomping straight through, and pulling out his knife in his generic glitchy buggy way, starting on every single thing you've been trying so hard to avoid, and dying quite quickly..

For a less dramatic answer...

...companions will attack as soon as the sneak status turns to [CAUTION] even on so-called Passive mode, so they are not good for serious stealth attempts. If you're just trying to sneak by and are sure you can do so without ever leaving HIDDEN status, no problem. If you're trying to sneak in to get that awesome stealth pistol shot, leave them Waiting somewhere.

try talking to them and on tactics say dont attack till ive engaged enemy and they may be stealthier.not done this myself so not saying it works but sounds like it would.not really a problem for me as there usually dead before they get chance to see either of us

No they are just liabilities when it comes to sneaking, sometimes even when just crouch shooting they want to jump out in front. I play on hardcoe mode so i can not even tell you how many restarts i have had (compiling the count now) because i line up a shot, pop pop and Boone is dead because he wanted to work my angle. It is really the only major issue i have with the AI other than that i can really work around every thing else. The doo doo doooo of Ed-e, Lily or Veronica charging in with fist of furry flailing around like they are off thier seziure meds is not an issue if you pull it to you with a few well placed rounds and then let them finish it off as it rushes you, works really well on cazadors (especially since the patch fixed the stimpack bug and cazador attack distance). The only thing i have found is to set them on aggressive, engage the targets at serious ranges where the cross hair is wider than the target, at ranges where even ED-e's sensors do not register them and either pullem in or creep foward take a shot creep foward again take a shot, repeat ad nauseum if not they either remain dead or i restart for the 127658987654983765th time. IN THE REAR HOLDING MY GEAR REALLY NEEDS TO MEAN SOMETHING lolz, mostly other than pack mules and XP generators by doing thier quests companions usually stay home.

Asai

Thank's for all the feedback. So I'll just play without them just like F3.

Bah, have you tried talking to Boone? "I'm ALLREADY doing that!"
I think he's going through the male menopause.

Companions have their place. Just not in deathclaw quarry at level 10.

Oh don't worry Timmy Grandma can be real quite :bonk:

I solve this issue, myself, by sniping from such a great distance that companions don't attack even when I hit the enemy, regardless. But yeah...if you're sneaky sneaky, solo it's going to be.

That's a really good idea
Unfortunately, I've got an exceptionally buggy version of the game it seems. Maybe I'm just being silly but I assumed that as Boone was meant to be a sniper, it would mean he'd stay back when I did and only attack, ie, snipe, from a distance, when I did.
But no. I hear a 'nyah!' and he's allready unsheathed his machette and is running off towards a clan of deathclaws.. :facepalm:



*gives boone back to LadyCrimson*

This may be a silly question but while you've been working the Companion Wheel have you accidentally set him on melee? It can sometimes be a bit confusing as when you mouse over the option it shows the option it will change to not the option it's currently on.

:laugh: Foolhardy confidence...he has it.
It's funny because when I pair Arcade with him, Boone does tend to stay back, like he's letting Arcade take point. I've seen Arcade walking forward firing his green goo to die first :stare: while Boone is miles behind. But if not mod-paired w/other companions, he runs forward a lot more. Companions...can't live with and can't live with...still luv 'em tho. :disco:

You were doing something wrong.
I sneak around on my companions just fine. They don't alert when I steal crap.

Granted, ED-E isn't really a sneaker. But when I do Deathclaws with Boone (Or Cass), we snipe together pretty well. If I'm a decent level, they don't reach me.

Ive never used companion. I like stealth and they just get in the way....... constantly. Even in FO3 i never used em.

I'll say this much: if your sneak is better than theirs, and you're sneaking, the enemy will always attack them first. It works basically the same way it did in Fallout 3. People complain about their followers blowing their cover; but they don't. They break THEIR cover. You can continue to get sneak criticals even when your companions are engaging enemy. I used to use Fawkes intentionally to draw hostiles into a good position for VATS.