Wasteland 3: Companion recruitment guide

Unique AI-controlled companions

At best, the unique AI-controlled companions in Wasteland 3 can be a godsend. You don’t need to micromanage their actions, but they’ll support you during battles. More often than not, however, they’ll probably run straight through flames or get up close to a bunch of mobs you’d want to blast with a rocket. Yes, they can also be annoying.

Anyway, the most common types of AI-controlled companions you’ll encounter are animals/pets. With certain levels of the Animal Whisperer skill, all you need to do is click on a creature and it’ll happily follow you around. But, you’re limited to one tamed pet per character (with Animal Whisperer). Still, there are others that you can find as you progress and there are no restrictions. You could run around with an army of AI-controlled pals if you wish.

Major Tomcat

It’s Team November’s cat mascot found in the Ambush Site; you need Animal Whisperer 1. You can’t return to this (tutorial) level, so you might as well tame it.

The Clone

You can create your clone by completing Irv’s sidequest in Sans Luxe Apartments. The clone can be male or female depending on who talks to Irv. It can only punch stuff and, when it dies, you need to make sure that you’ve picked up the “Pink Goo.” Otherwise, you won’t be able to create another one.

Polly the Parrot

You’ll meet Six-Fingered Larry just outside The Bizarre’s Hopefuls tent and this rude parrot will introduce itself. You can recruit it for $200, Barter 5, or Animal Whisperer 7. There seems to be a bug related to Polly as well since, if you dismiss it, the recruitment options are still present though it doesn’t rejoin.

The Provost

You’ll find this Latin-speaking dude in one of the storage rooms in The Warrens. His AI is a bit clunky since he runs off in the distance and takes a while to shoot enemies with his pistol.

Note: It seems that keeping The Provost alive and bringing him to the Snowed-Inn Resort to pick up a special item will lead you to a secret location.

Party Pal

Party Pal is the main reward you’ll obtain once you reach Denver. You’ll need to transfer the Reagan AI to the Machine Commune to get this cool disco bot.

Honey Badger

The Massacre Site is littered with corpses. You don’t know what happened here except there’s a badger roaming around. If you have Animal Whisperer 9, you can tame it.

As for why it’s a unique companion, it’s because this creature is extremely deadly. It can crit for 500 to 700 damage, and it’s got a massive health pool to boot.

The Bison

Bison are tough creatures, and you’ll be able to recruit one in Knox Bison Ranch. First, you’ll need to get a sidequest from Cannibal Jamboree. Then, once you’ve found Knox Bison Ranch, you can help the ranchers or the bandits to get rewarded with a bison.

Cyborg Chicken

Cyborg Chickens, in general, require Animal Whisperer 4-5 to tame, and you’ll spot them in various locations in Wasteland 3. However, I’ve also been told that there’s a secret unique companion that will join your squad if you manage to find all the Cyborg Chickens in the game. Let me know if you managed to do this.

Wasteland 3 is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.