"Knights of the Fallen Empire" officially announced

[Corvinius]

Infos from the Livestream and Q&A which bring more light into the Companion handling as well as Relationships and affection:

"Chances these get a reply are close to non-existant, but what the hell, I'll ask anyway.

1. Will be able to meet and/or recruit companions that don't belong in our class? (for example, if I play the demo with my agent, will I still see T7?) yes or no will suffice.

2. What affects the companions effectiveness in battle? Only our level? what about Presence stat? what about affection?

3. Will any and all changes to the companion system also be applied to the 1-60 leveling experience?(multiple roles in combat, or whatever changes you introduce to crafting)

4. Since some companions are not customizable via armor, I am correct to assume that the customization slot will still be there?

5. What will happen to earpieces and Implants on companions? Should I remove them before starting KOTFE?

Answer from the Devs:

" 1. Yes.
3. Level and Presence. What Presence does is increase damage, healing output, and total health of your Companions.
3. Yup!
4. Yup again.
The plan right now is they will be mailed to you when they come off your Companion in 4.0"

This answer I found very interesting:

"1. Will be able to meet and/or recruit companions that don't belong in our class? (for example, if I play the demo with my agent, will I still see T7?) yes or no will suffice.

Yes"

And another clear note from Eric Musco about some critical questions from the community:

"Hey folks!

As mentioned before, he is a quick wrap-up of what was discussed on the livestream earlier this evening. First off, you can watch the archived version of the stream yourself, right here (part 1) (part 2).

We opened by showing the intro to Chapter 3, along with playing through portions of it to highlight some key choices that can be made, new environments, etc. After that we took on some of the more commonly asked questions around Companions in Knights of the Fallen Empire. Here they are:

What happens to my existing Companions in KotFE?
When Fallen Empire launches, all of your existing Companions remain accessible to you outside of the story Chapters. In the KotFE story there is a specific cast of characters that is a part of that ongoing storyline.

Is there more combat customization for Companions?
Absolutely, in fact every Companion can now choose any role you choose at any time; healer, tank, or DPS.

How does gear come into play here?
Starting in KotFE your Companion's power and stats scale with your level, regardless of the gear they are wearing. However, you can still use gear to determine exactly how your Companions will look. (note: this is not a part of Appearance Designer)

What about all of that Affection I farmed for my Companions?
We haven't forgotten the relationships you've built; the affection you earned will not be lost and the relationships you built will continue to be relevant.

If you have more Companion questions, feel free to ask them in this thread. We will work to answer them throughout the rest of the week. Keep in mind of course that we will not answer spoilery questions. Finally, we ended the stream with a video clip from Chapter 1 of Fallen Empire which shows an important decision made around one of the character's Companions. Sparing any spoilers, check out the archive for the clip.

-eric"

All in all it seems a good handling. Having them scale with Levels is OK for me as long as I can edit their appearance as well as their outfits.

Though I like to customize my mods for comps also I can understand it is easier this way.