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A while ago (after all this time) I noticed that Cocona has a pretty high sur, higher than mine even (just by 1 but still) which I intentionally made that high to match my wis while wearing this equipment in order to reduce self damage all the way down to 1. Except for heavy lightning which hits for wis-sur/2 all other lightning hits for 5(wis-sur)/4 which then still has to get multiplied according to the rangemap (1.0 to 0.4 based on distance) but that detail has no further relevance when damage is already reduced down to 1. Basically, as long as I'm careful not to hit her with heavy lightning, which seems doable as she's a ranged spellcaster, it should be "safe" to take her with me even if I ended up having to roast her and her minions along with the enemy and even myself as an emergency measure or otherwise.
Before even getting to leave Noer that idea was put to the test thanks to a bandit encounter with red stamina, not an uncommon occurrence with an overweight inventory... While the idea still worried me the outcome was as expected, or at least the part where Cocona is mostly unhurt by my magic was as expected. I hadn't quite realised yet how low her defense is. The only delay from the start of the encounter (no hide) before going full pikachu was a single rest (rest is modded to consume more food), but in that brief period Cocona's life and stamina was brought down from 170/130 to 104/37 and lightning couldn't have had anything to do with the stamina as it only does life damage. Ouch...
I'm clearly noticing my lack of experience with companions, unsurprisingly as it is more or less a first for me trying to actually fight together with companions rather than treating them like some escort to be kept away from enemy contact as much as possible, but it seems to "work". It seems to work in the sense that my magic is no threat to Cocona even though it still is to her minions because their hp/stamina ratio is 3:5, very unlike literally every other undead in this game but I already pointed this out it's getting fixed (hp buff) and also Cocona is actually pretty good at healing. Still it doesn't feel like having her around has any merits besides just the company, which I do actually appreciate I mean look at this video.
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On the downside I do hate it when I aggro a ranged minion since they can attack from anywhere, draining stamina and worst of all interrupting magic. Also stealth doesn't seem to be of much use this way since even if the enemy doesn't spot Cocona first she'll go all meow and pick a fight herself. Still I thought I'd mention this in case someone with actual experience using companions might find this more helpful than I do.
Everything aside the idea of being in a party really is a merit on its own. Someone from the discord who is really good at drawing actually went and drew the scene from above for me only a few moments later after having said I hoped this would inspire him. This is the merit in the form of "just a doodle", that he didn't mind if I posted here. If anything I hope you also like it.
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