Companions

Companions are friendly creatures that travel with you and assist you in battle. There are 3 different companions that can be found in the game. Only one companion can accompany you at a time.

Each companion has a corresponding item (or spell) associated with it. It can be used to summon/dismiss the companion. Those items (spell) can be bound to numeric keys for quick access. During battle, companion can't be summoned ("Action unavailable" will be shown in log), but can be dismissed or switched to other companion.

While able to deal damage to your foes, compainons can also take damage themselves. They can even take damage from your attacks (only explosions). Their health can be restored by player.

Companions can be directed by pointing cursor at a location and pressing the [U] key. If an enemy is selected, they will attack the enemy instead. Holding down the key will make the companion return to your position.

Your companion will automatically target any nearby enemies, usually focusing on a single one and switching targets when the current one is killed. Thanks to companions, you won't have to deal with lesser enemies - e.g. rats or radroaches. You can also use your companion to disarm mines or fight turrets, healing it afterwards.

## Balefire Phoenix

The Balefire Phoenix can be found within the Factory. The first time you meet it, the quest Make friends with a Balefire Phoenix will start. Feeding it radioactive cookies will make it disappear, requiring you to find it again. During those encounters Phoenix will disappear when attacked, so be careful, especially with explosions. Feeding it 5 times will complete the quest and give you the Whistle, which can be used to summon or dismiss Balefire Phoenix as a companion.

In combat, the Balefire Phoenix will spray a constant stream of flames at enemies at short range, doing fire damage with slight armor piercing properties. If it takes damage, you can heal it either by giving it radioactive cookies (in equipment section) or by receiving a dose of radiation. If it dies, it will shortly rise from its ashes, as phoenixes do. It will have half of its health, and the cooldown is 30 seconds (you can see the cooldown near its health bar).

 External damage resistance
 Damage

Note: while the Balefire Phoenix shoots flames, it does not inflict the Burning status on enemies. Also, when you start or refresh the game, Balefire Phoenix will always have half its maximum health no matter how much it previously had.

## Robo-owl

The Robo-owl can be crafted at a workbench, once you've obtained a Robo-owl case and Robo-owl schematics from The core of the stable 88. The case and schematic can also be bought from Winry. You must have Repair-3 in order to craft it. Robo-owl can be summoned/dismissed with the "Robo-owl" item available in Equipment list.

In combat, the Robo-owl will fire a constant long-range beam at enemies, doing laser damage. The laser rotates slowly, making it hard for Robo-owl to hit fast moving targets, or deal with lots of enemies. If it takes damage or breaks down, you can repair it at a workbench using scrap metal. It's recommended to use the portable workbench, as you'll be able to repair it anywhere.

You can find schematics that will upgrade the Robo-owl's abilities. Scheme "Robo-owl active defense" can be found in M.A.S. tower and requires Repair-4. Scheme "Enhanced robo-owl laser" can be found in Ministry of Image and requires Repair-5. Upgrades show under "Other" in PipBuck, with "Augmentation" category. Active defense increases Robo-owl's damage threshold by 3, and external damage resistance by 10%. Enhanced laser increases it's damage by 'about a third'.

Due to being a robot, the Robo-owl can be short-circuited by lightning weapons. Alicorns are particularly dangerous due to this.

 External damage resistance
 Damage

## Moonblade

The Moonblade can be cast from a defensive spell found in a safe at the Blood Moon arena, located in M.A.S. tower.

In combat, the Moonblade will charge at enemies, doing large amounts of blade damage on contact. Due to this it is at risk of taking contact damage itself. If it takes damage or breaks down, the spell must be recast, fully healing it or resummoning it if it broke.

The Moonblade will attack anything it considers a foe, including enemies that blow up on death (e.g. Spider-mines). This can quickly destroy the Moonblade from the damage.

The moonblade receives no bonuses from the Empathy perk, instead being boosted by the Magic skill, increasing it's health and damage by up to 200%.

 Damage threshold

## Notes

* The Empathy perk will boost the effectiveness of companions. It can be taken 3 times, each time increasing companion damage, damage threshold and external damage resistance.
* Companions will phase through walls if they get too far away from you. This can lead to them moving into an unexplored room and start fighting enemies inside.
* You can see your companion's health bar under your health bar. It has a small phoenix icon, even when your current companion is Robo-owl or Moonblade.
* When calling your companion back to you (holding down U), they will briefly phase through walls even when they don't need to. By quickly selecting a new location for it to move to, you can order it to get to places it normally couldn't reach, such as behind closed doors.

## See also

* Balefire Phoenix on *Fallout: Equestria Wiki*