I only want good-oriented and honorable companions, and I need at least five of them because I will only be playing the game with a mod that increases party size to six. Someone already mentioned Eder. Yes I love Eder. In both PoE games Eder is my always-in-the-party companion. In PoE1 I also similarly loved Sagani and she was always in my party too.
I don't care at all about my companions being "nuanced" or "flawed" because that's what's "realistic." If I wanted any of that, I can get that from real life. I play my cRPGs to get away from real life.
I'd say the companions in PoE are nuanced and 'realistic'. It's just that unlike the companions in BG3 their flaws are not quite so obnoxiously in-your-face. I'd mention Astarion but i'd say Wyll is an almost better example, my man's supposed to be a hero but pretty much from his 2nd dialogue he makes it pretty clear he's full of shit. Compare with Durance or Grieving Mother (who are different shades of full of shit), or even the Devil with Astarion. Maybe it comes down to taste.
As for what i want, i hope none of the good companions fit the tropy paladin. Companions that are single-mindedly good or evil are usually a hard skip for me.
