Unlocking the full potential of your journey through the Living Lands in Avowed hinges on assembling the perfect team. With four unique companions-Kai, Marius, Giatta, and Yatzli-each bringing distinct skills and stat bonuses, choosing who to travel with can change the course of your adventure. Discover where and how to unlock these vital allies, master their abilities, and learn to switch them out at camps to tailor your party to your playstyle on PC and Xbox.
Each companion comes with their own backstory, abilities, and side quests as you travel across the Living Lands. They provide a voice of reason and act as a trusty support pillar whenever you’re faced with a hint of adversity. Not only do they guide you in your decisions, they destroy any enemy who stands in your way with their brutal strength. Also, they can give you stat bonuses.
However, they don’t join your journey from the get-go. You’ll need to find them along the way and give them a reason to join your quest. Here are all companions in Avowed, plus details about when you unlock them, what skills they have, and what stat bonuses you can get.
How many companions are there in Avowed?
In Avowed, there are four main companions you can recruit throughout your journey: Kai, Marius, Giatta, and Yatzli. While you can only have two companions with you at any given time, the others remain at camp and can be swapped out as needed. Additionally, there are temporary companions like Garryck and Ilora who join during the tutorial but are not counted among the main companions. Each companion has unique abilities and stat bonuses, contributing differently to your party’s dynamics.
There are four companions (technically six if you count Garryck and Ilora from the tutorial, but no one counts Garryck and Ilora) that will join your party in Avowed: Kai, Marius, Giatta, and Yatzli.
Those companions join your party in the same order as listed above. You may meet some characters before the others, but they won’t join your party until a bit later.
All companions in Avowed
In Avowed, there are four main companions you will recruit throughout the main story: Kai, Marius, Giatta, and Yatzli. Each companion brings unique combat abilities and stat bonuses, enhancing your party’s effectiveness in different ways. Kai, a durable tank-like fighter, joins early in Dawnshore, followed by Marius, a ranged ranger, also in Dawnshore. Giatta and Yatzli join later in the Emerald Stair and Shatterscarp regions, respectively. You can have up to two companions active at a time and can swap them at camps, allowing you to tailor your team to your preferred playstyle. While companions have personal quests and provide useful buffs, the game does not feature romance options with them.
Kai, Marius, Giatta, and Yatzli each have their own personalities and abilities, but they offer more than just side quests and combat. After your companions open up to you about their backstory, they’ll offer to teach you a little something or two. As each companion has a different personality, some will open up to you fairly early on in your adventure, while others will take some time.
Once you complete a companion’s training, you’ll earn attribute points based on dialogue options: two prompts give you a two-point bonus in a specific stat, while one prompt gives you a one-point bonus for both stats. You can trigger these conversations at party camps in Dawnshore, Emerald Stair, and other regions.
To learn more about the companions, including when you unlock them and what their abilities do, check out the sections below. However, keep in mind that there will be slight spoilers, so read at your own risk!
Kai
Kai is unlocked after you arrive in the Living Lands and complete the “Message from Afar” main story quest in Dawnshore.
Kai is a swashbuckler that likes to be up close and personal in fights. He’ll taunt nearby enemies and increase his own defenses to keep enemies focused on him for as long as possible. If he does go down, he is able to use Second Wind and revive himself to get back into combat.
Additionally, Kai is equipped with a blunderbuss that can set enemies and flammable obstacles alight. This is particularly useful if you don’t have any Magran’s Fury, fire spells, or flame-imbued weapons.
Once you get to know Kai more and undergo his training, you’ll earn 2 Might or 2 Constitution, or 1 in both.
Marius
To unlock Marius, you’ll first need to enter Paradis, the main city of Dawnshore, and progress through the main story quest “An Untimely End” until you can meet with Marius at the Grinning Balarok. After you interact with Marius, he’ll join your party and help you in your quest to find the assassin.
Marius is a hunter and an assassin that is capable of trapping and dealing swift blows to enemies. Marius’ abilities will do extra damage to enemies that are low health and deal bleed accumulation to enemies hit.
Marius’ companion command is “Hunter’s Sense” and it allows you to see nearby enemies, loot, and plants. It’s very helpful when you’re on the hunt for god totem pieces or upgrade materials.
Once you get to know Marius more and undergo his training, you’ll earn 2 Constituion or 2 Dexterity, or 1 in both.
Giatta
You’ll first meet Giatta in Fior mes Ivérno, the main city of Emerald Stair, as she is arguing with Governor Vidarro. Giatta will join your party as you progress through the main story quest “Ancient Soil.”
Giatta’s plays the support role for your partty. She is able to heal, shield, and increase movement speed and attack speed for all allies. Giatta is extremely useful in combat as she is able to keep you alive and increase your damage output.
Giatta’s companion command is “Spectral Jolt,” which allows her to shock essence generators for you. You no longer need to aim Electric Lily Seeds through small holes in the wall and shock yourself in the process.
Once you get to know Giatta more and undergo her training, you’ll earn 2 Intellect or 2 Resolve, or 1 in both.
Yatzli
Although you meet Yatzli near the entrance of Emerald Stair, she will not join your party until a bit later. You’ll need to reach Thirdborn, the main city of Shatterscarp, and progress through the main story quest “Face Your Fears.”
Yatzli is the wizard of the group and will bombard enemies with arcane missiles – dealing lots of damage in the process. She can also manipulate arcane energy to slow down your foes.
Yatzli is capable of doing something no person or item can do (or so you think.) – dispel illusions. Other barriers and walls are capable of being destroyed with a certain throwable object, spell, or weapon, but illusions are not. The only way to get rid of illusions is through Yatzli’s “Dispel Illusion” ability.
Once you get to know Yatzli more and undergo her training, you’ll earn 2 Perception or 2 Intellect, or 1 in both.
How to change companions in Avowed
In Avowed, you can have up to two companions in your party at any time, and switching between them is straightforward. After unlocking your third companion, you must initially bring them along to progress in the story. Once their quest is complete, you can change your active companions at any party camp. To do this, simply exit the camp, and a companion selection menu will appear, allowing you to choose which two companions you want to take with you on your journey. The companions not selected will remain at the camp until you decide to swap again. This system lets you tailor your party composition based on your preferred playstyle and the unique skills each companion offers.
In Avowed, you can have up to two party members at a time, so, when you unlock three companions, you’ll need to choose who gets left behind at camp. If you don’t like a companion’s abilities or just want to try something new, you can swap your party members at camp.
To swap party members, you’ll need to head to your camp and leave it. You don’t need to interact with anyone or parse through your companion’s dialogue options; you just need to leave camp to open the party member menu.
Select two companions to join your party. Companions in raised positions will join your party, while companions in lowered positions will stay at camp.
Can you romance companions in Avowed?
In Avowed, traditional romance options with companions are largely absent. While you can flirt and engage in friendly dialogue with party members, these interactions do not develop into full romantic relationships during the main adventure. However, there is a notable exception with the companion Kai, with whom players can initiate a subtle romance that culminates in an epilogue scene if certain conditions are met, such as completing Kai’s personal quest and choosing specific dialogue options. This limited romance is a deliberate design choice by Obsidian, aiming to focus on meaningful, natural relationships without the complexities and resource demands of full romance systems common in other RPGs.
Which secret methods unlock all four Avowed companions early in the game
In Avowed, there are no secret or alternative methods to unlock all four companions early in the game. Each of the four permanent companions-Kai, Marius, Giatta, and Yatzli-is unlocked naturally as you progress through the main story quests in their respective regions. Kai joins first at Dawnshore during the “Message from Afar” quest, Marius follows in Paradis after the “An Untimely End” quest, Giatta is recruited in the Emerald Stair region during “The Animancy Method,” and Yatzli becomes available later in Shatterscarp during “Face Your Fears”-all without needing to deviate from the main storyline or perform secret actions.
Are there any hidden or secret steps to unlock all four companions early in Avowed
There are no hidden or secret steps to unlock all four companions early in Avowed. Each of the four permanent companions-Kai, Marius, Giatta, and Yatzli-is recruited naturally as you progress through the main story quests in their respective regions. Kai joins first during the “Message from Afar” quest in Dawnshore, Marius follows in Paradis during “An Untimely End,” Giatta is unlocked in the Emerald Stair region via “The Animancy Method,” and Yatzli becomes available later in Shatterscarp during “Face Your Fears.” None of these require secret actions or detours; they are all tied to main quest progression and cannot be accelerated by hidden methods.
