The possibility to choose starting class is a step in the right direction but it's still not good enough. Most classes have horrible/subpar starting talents and their civil abilities are not what I want them to be. Right now I either have to create a specific character or torture my pc with running 4 clients to play with a party I want, considering how rare civil abilities and especially talents are. If each companion started with a talent point and a civil point unspent that'd solve the problem (or just allow creating 4 characters in single player as an option).

I like the new "pick the class" dialogue options, but I definitely wouldn't mind an extra option which lets you do a full customize job on Talents, Attributes, Abilities, and Skills like you could in character creation.

I want more lizard companions.

I for one, wouldn't mind if we get a full customise option where:

Every stat is set at min stat like 7.

Skill slots are all set blank(or question mark).

Talents are what gets me. They are so rare (you only get to choose one more at level 4) it is annoying to pick up a companion and get a useless talent that you would never in a million years have picked.

I'm playing Sebille as Rogue. I just picked up the Red Prince and Lohse as Cleric and Inquisitor (I think, perhaps Cleric and Shadowblade) and got Comeback Kid and Hothead. Both of these talents are far less use than what I'd have chosen to put it mildly.

Now I don't have PetPal so unless I want to wait until level 4 I'll have to go and pick up Ifan and go through every class and see if any of them offer it. And then take him with that class - whatever it is.

The minimum stats for a starting character are 10 before racials and initial distribution. I hope you're not suggesting that it would be a good option to have companions permanently weaker.

Wayfarer does, but there is currently a bug where it doesn't actually work on recruited companions (didn't check learning it at level 4 on a companion).

Not necessary. The only thing needed on optional party members is Pet Pal. Lvl 1 hero has so much time further ahead to change his class, especially if the maximum lvl is around 25.

What shines through the most in threads like this is that nobody gives a damn about the Origins characters and we just want to customize our own party in full.

i get that they are all going to have cool stories eventually but at present they haven't added much to my play experience beyond a little exp.

I actually like the origins characters. I've enjoyed playing both them and my own.

Oops, typo! It should've been 10. Thx for the correction. I just mean: leave everything at minimum a stat can get.

If Larian has a lot of time, maybe they can even do like presets... lol. (Just saw something like this from NWN1 though I won't be playing more of that game.) And then provide a "Customise" button for those who want to.

I much prefer the origin characters to custom characters. I'd actually like to see them locked into a class as I consider the class to be part of their character - it seems weird to have such a fundamental aspect of who someone is be entirely mutable for otherwise fairly defined characters.

I still don't like character customization coming up in the middle of the game. For people that want it, I think you should just be able to create up to 4 custom characters right at the beginning and dial everything in from scratch. For people who don't want to do that, I'd like to see the origin characters locked into a class but maybe 2-3 other characters for hire with a random race/class each run; so you can't pick exactly what you want - you have to try to figure out a good combination from what's available. This feels more like stumbling into a world already in motion rather than having some kind of crazy wish fulfillment that just gives you whatever you want. The result is the same (or better) for customizers, but feels a lot better for people who are playing for story.

I like playing the origin characters. I don't even change their classes because it doesn't feel right. All I want is a little customisation within the boundaries of their class. Actually just being able to choose level 1 talent would already solve the problem.

This, please and thank you

Petpal does work if a companion learns it at level 4.

There is another a bug where if you pick up companion after level 4 you don't get the talent point to spend (or any other point come to that) unless you pick their default class.

So unless you want default class you must recruit companions at the start.