Fallout New Vegas: Best Companions [Top 10]

In addition to the weapon or weapon type you select to progress the game’s story, certain NPCs help you out in this journey. Our Fallout New Vegas best companions guide entails a list of NPCs that can be taken into battle for assistance.

Fallout New Vegas Best Companions Picks 

Here’s a quick look at the comparison between each of the best companion you can get in Fallout New Vegas:

Companions or Followers are NPCs that fight alongside the player and assist them in battle, using their perks. They may vary from purely offensive ones, with their builds dealing a ton of damage, to purely defensive ones, focusing on tanking or maximizing health.

There are also builds that focus on replenishing lost hit points in battle; they all rely on the perks the companions provide.

Raul Tejada

Raul Tejada is, without a doubt, the best companion. His perk, Old Vaquero, improves the rate of fire of revolvers and lever-action firearms by 33%. His other perk, Full maintenance, is a buffed version of the regular maintenance perk. Full maintenance reduces the decay of weapons or firearms by 75%.

His other skills include; Guns, Repair, and Science. Raul Tejada is overall a great choice for builds that use pistols as their primary weapon. Raul Tejada’s experience, combined with his Old Vaquero perk, makes him the best companion you can get in Fallout New Vegas.

Veronica Santangelo

Veronica Santangelo ranks second best on our list, boasting a total of five perks. Her standout perk, Scribe Assistant, allows players to craft workbench items directly through her dialogue, a unique feature among character perks. Notably, it enables the recycling of energy weapon ammunition in combat, conserving resources.

Additionally, her perks Causeless Rebel and Bonds of Steel offer bonuses to her abilities, while Elijah’s Last Words enhances her melee capabilities significantly, boosting attack speed by 150% and granting a 25% chance to knock down enemies.

At level 5, Veronica possesses 235 Health points, increasing to 395 by level 37. Her other stats include a 3% critical chance, 2.90 to 5.50 unarmed damage, 10% radiation resistance, 25% poison resistance, and a carrying capacity of 220 weight. With proficiency in unarmed combat, Veronica’s elevated Strength contributes to her effectiveness in hand-to-hand combat.

Craig Boone

Craig Boone, a former NCR First Recon marksman, stands out as one of Fallout New Vegas’ premier companions. His perk, Spotter, crucially marks all hostile enemies in red when players hard-scope or aim down iron sights, enhancing visibility in low light or long-distance scenarios.

Boone’s progression from level 5 to 37 sees his health rise from 230 to 315, with Tag skills in Guns, Melee Weapons, and Sneak improving from 48 to 100. His proficiency in these skills, particularly in Guns and Sneak, complements his role as a sniper-based companion.

With his unparalleled ability to detect and engage enemies at range, Boone excels as the ideal companion for players focusing on sniper or marksman builds, cementing his status as one of the game’s top NPCs.

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Lily Bowen

Lily Bowen, a first-generation mutant Nightkin, brings unique strengths to the table as a Fallout New Vegas companion. Her perk, Stealth Girl, extends the duration of Stealth Boys by an additional 2 minutes and boosts Sneak Critical Attack damage by 10%.

Starting at level 10 and capping at level 37, Lily exhibits exceptional durability, with her health ranging from 240 to 888, making her an unparalleled tanking companion. She possesses six tag skills—Energy Weapons, Explosives, Guns, Melee Weapons, Sneak, and Unarmed—reflecting her versatility in combat.

Additionally, Lily boasts a 6% critical chance, deals 3.50 unarmed damage, and demonstrates significant resistances to poison (35%) and radiation (14%). With super strength, she excels in melee combat and is adept at utilizing knives and unarmed techniques, making her an invaluable asset in close-quarters engagements.

Joshua Graham

Joshua Graham is the Co-founder of Caesar’s legion and the first of its Legate. Joshua Graham’s perk, The Way of the Canaanite, reduces recoil spread by 0.4 and boosts the critical chance of .45 by x2. This perk doubles its effect if you get your hand on the “A Light Shining in the Darkness” pistol.

You get x4 crit chance and a recoil spread of only 0.275. Joshua Graham can be upgraded from level 10 to 50. His hit points vary from 240 to 440, with 440 at level 50 and 240 at level 10. Joshua Graham’s tag skills include; Barter, Guns, and repair.

Dean Domino

Dean Domino, a ghoul akin to Raul Tejada, boasts a unique trait of 1% health regeneration, providing a steady health boost during combat and downtime. While lacking a specific perk, his enduring presence on the battlefield makes him a reliable companion.

Dean’s proficiency in Explosives and Guns, with skill levels ranging from 45 to 100 and 53 to 100 respectively, solidifies his position as one of Fallout New Vegas’ top companions. His level can be increased from 5 to 35, and up to 50 with DLC.

With attributes including six Strength, four Perception, eight Endurance, seven Charisma, six Intelligence, eight Agility, and five Luck, Dean Domino offers a balanced combination of skills and stats for varied combat situations.

Dog/God

Dog/God is also a super mutant, just like Lily Bowen, except he’s a little rude. He has two perks: Dog: Nightkin Toughness and God: Health Regeneration. His Dog: Nightkin Toughness gives him 30% damage resistance of all kinds of damage, making him tougher. And his second perk, God: Health Regeneration, gives him 5% health regeneration.

Both these perks make him a great tank. Dog/God has dual identities, so he also has dual stats and hit points. Dog can be upgraded from level 5 to 35 to 50(DLC), and God can be upgraded from level 1 to 35.

God has 50 to 1750 Hitpoints, with 50 at level 1 and 1750 at level 35. This concludes that the latter is tankier than the former. Not only that, but God has no max health, so it keeps getting higher as players level up.

Rose of Sharon Cassidy

Rose of Sharon Cassidy, owner of Cassidy Caravans in Mojave, offers a formidable array of perks, with Shotgun Surgeon standing out as her most valuable. When using shotguns, this perk grants players an additional 10 points of damage threshold, regardless of ammunition type.

Hand of Vengeance boosts her gun damage by 15%, while Calm Heart replenishes 50 hit points in battle or adds 50 hit points when used proactively. The Whiskey Rose perk allows for the consumption of alcoholic beverages without negative effects and increases damage threshold from whiskey and wasteland tequila, dependent on the courier’s survival skills.

Cassidy’s progression from level 5 to 22, and up to 37 with DLC, sees her health rise from 210 to 295. With expertise in Guns, Melee Weapons, and Sneak, she excels in various combat scenarios, particularly with ballistic weapons and shotguns, making her a versatile and highly effective companion.

Arcade Gannon

Arcade Gannon, a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse, offers valuable support as a medic companion in Fallout New Vegas. His perks, Better Healing and Companion Suite, enhance healing effectiveness by 20% and provide stat boosts and debuffs exclusively for companions, respectively.

Better Healing increases health restoration from consumables, while Companion Suite alters offensive and defensive stats for companions. Although it decreases damage resistance and carrying capacity, it amplifies weapon damage and sneak skill by 0.75 and +100 respectively.

Arcade’s level can be upgraded from 5 to 37, with tag skills in Energy Weapons, Medicine, and Melee Weapons. His proficiency in medicine, starting at 59 and maxing out at 100, reflects his role as a doctor within the faction. With modest health ranging from 170 to 345, Arcade Gannon excels in supporting allies, making him one of the best medic companions in the game.

ED-E

ED-E is one of the only robot companions in Fallout New Vegas. It has Enhanced sensors and Camaradar-E perks. ED-E’s enhanced sensors perk allows the player to have vision equivalent to having 10 Perception.

Not only that, but it also allows the player to detect enemies which are cloaked. This perk is put to great effectiveness if players combine ED-E’s Enhance sensors with Craig Boone’s spotter perk; with that, they can even take out snipers from a long range.

So that is pretty much everything that you need to know about Fallout New Vegas best companions. Which companion is your favorite so far in the game? Let us know more of your thoughts in the comments section below. 

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