Obsidian is sending us all on another RPG adventure in Eora, and just like in Pillars of Eternity, this time your Avowed companions are going to play a pretty big role. Avowed will let you collect a crew of adventurers to help you save the Living Lands from the Dreamscourge plague.
Here's the quick details on your Avowed companions:
- You'll eventually recruit four total companions but only bring two with you while exploring
- You won't miss recruiting any companions because they're all part of main story quests
- You can chat with your companions when you stop at camp spots to get their thoughts on recent events and on each other
- You can control a small set of active abilities for your companions through a radial menu in combat
Can you romance your companions in Avowed?
Romance in Avowed is very minimalist. Despite Obsidian warning us ahead of launch not to expect romance because that hasn't historically been its thing, it turns out that you can have a small romantic story with at least one of your companions. There aren't cutscenes and flirty dialogue like you're used to in games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Baldur's Gate 3 though.
However, we have confirmed that you can express interest in Kai and have that interest reciprocated.
Recruiting Kai
Kai
Race: Aumaua
Class: Fighter
Voice actor: Brandon Keener
Recruit in: Dawnshore
Kai is the first companion you'll meet, just after Avowed's tutorial when you arrive at the docks outside Paradis. Kai is one of the Aumaua, the Pillars setting's very distinct oceanic people who you may remember from Pillars of Eternity 2. He was formerly a member of the Rauatai navy who's been a mercenary for years now, favoring a swashbuckling setup of pistol and saber.
Kai is compassionate and idealistic, often interested in helping people that your party meets in the Living Lands. He's worked with Marius before, and the two often banter back and forth at camp. Kai has a lot of regrets from his past and frequently mentions his belief that people deserve second chances. He's made mistakes and failed people he cares about in ways he'll eventually open up to the player character about.
Also, he's voiced by the same actor as Mass Effect's Garrus Vakarian, instantly certifying Kai as a Good Hang. He can be a little more than that though, as mentioned above. Pursuing his side quest opens the possibility for a romance with Kai, though not the kind of big cutscene driven romance of bigger RPGs.
Recruting Marius
Marius
Race: Dwarf
Class: Ranger
Voice actor: Scott Whyte
Recruit in: Paradis
You'll meet Marius just a couple hours into Avowed when Kai mentions a tracker that may be able to help you during the quest An Untimely End. You'll meet up with Marius at a bar in the Grinning Balarok bar in the lower districts of Paradis.
Marius is a hunter from the remote area Solace, a harsh portion of the Living Lands. His background means that he's way more at home out in the wild than with the comforts of civilization so he's not one for small talk. He often banters back and forth with Kai at the party camp, unwilling to get pulled into chummy antics.
Marius is a clammed up kind of companion, never wanting to share details about his past or his feelings about the present. He's pragmatic about the job and is usually weirded out by too much magic of any kind and Animancy in particular.
Recruiting Giatta
Giatta
Race: Human
Class: Wizard
Voice actor: Mara Junot
Recruit in: Fior mes Ivèrno
You'll meet Giatta in the city Fior mes Ivèrno after you reach the second area Emerald Stair. She's having it out with a government official about what to do about the Dreamscourge and the failing crops in the area. She sends you off on a pretty lengthy quest to assist her but won't actually join your party until you've fully completed The Animancy Method.
Giatta is a human Animancer who lost her parents in a laboratory accident and now carries the Phantasmal Focus, the invention that led to their downfall. As an Animancer, Giatta is a polar opposite to Marius, totally invested in magical solutions to problems. She's knowledgeable and inquisitive about the possibilities of animancy and fiercely protective of her hometown and its people.
Despite her extreme magical interests, Giatta gets along with everyone in camp quite well. She loves swapping ghost stories with the crew and has a way of disarming both Kai and Marius until they open up more to her than to anyone else.
Recruiting Yatzli
Yatzli
Race: Orlan
Class: Wizard
Voice actor: Anjali Bhimani
Recruit in: Shatterscarp
You'll encounter Yatzli right as you step into Emerald Stair for the first time. She's battling some sporelings nearby and requests your help retrieving an ancient vase from a ruin. You won't officially recruit her until quite a while after that during the quest A Path to the Garden as you're leaving Emerald Stair to head to Shatterscarp, so hang tight.
Yatzli is a scholar of the Godless, the ancient people who formerly inhabited the Living Lands. She's irreverent and charming with a fun shade of sarcasm that's meant to bring you in rather than push you away. Don't get too attached to her flirtatious nature though. One of the first things you'll learn when you meet Yatzli is that she's already got a lover. Yatzli and Giatta have known each other a long time—Giatta affectionately refers to her as a sort of dirty-minded aunt and bad influence.
Yatzli may be even more of a magical fanatic than Giatta and the other animancers of Emerald Stair. She values learning and history over pragmatism and sentimentality, at times, putting her on opposite sides of some of the Envoy's choices from Kai or Marius.
