The issue I run into in tight spaces is my gear occasionally ends up in an very inconvenient spot to get to, and when there are multiple enemies there's a good chance I get downed/severely injured if I try to grab it immediately. HP/STA Damage received going from 1~ to like 8+ per hit when without a shield and wounded gets pretty ridiculous at close range. In an open field I can almost always run away and kite to get back to my stuff then deal with foes one by one after agro loss. If I back off and hide in a cave or forest there is a good chance my stuff will have despawned by the time I sneak to it. I hate having to buy expensive replacements and carry heavy spare gear. Why can't I just disarm the enemies instead?
Mmh, I feel you. I always run simulation ahead, like what if there's a chance i move forward and an enemy from a different path block my back (escape route) so I always make sure such situations never occur to begin with by placing traps or ordering companion to guard that path. (extra precaution and super vigilant).
Scared of reinforcement ? block off the way you come from with 20 traps (yes, you can't escape, but you will only have to deal with enemies in front).
Also, you can 80% stun enemies AOE with water book, quick slot it, it will save your life on doom mode, this make you able to open menu brieftly whenever you lose weapons or get wounded. 100% death proof if you come super duper prepared.
I've never had major issues with managing Cecily/Grey Rat with follower commands. Aside for being a hassle I'm pretty used to manually telling one or both to wait and positioning them for a tactical advantage given the chance to prepare. But ranged/melee comp combos in my experience like to kill each other from time to time. I don't like having to constantly cover Ranged comps either since they hit me often and it exposes my back.
Aside from the very early game I've never felt I needed to have Cecily/Grey Rat around for combat but they make dealing with groups quicker and convenient. I usually end up being a tank for Cecily due to her low stamina with Grey Rat only being useful against those he agros at the beginning of a fight. I considered bandit encounters a way to farm money and loot even when they had the initiative but there was always the rare incident where Cecily gets targeted by 3 enemies at once and dies before I can pull agro off.
As for being stuck between comp and enemy it hasn't gotten me killed yet. It just sucks. Why can I move Cocona's undead but not comps?
The situation where Cecily get targeted by 3 only happens when you chose not to "hide" before approaching, and even then you still have rougly 4 seconds to take agro off her. Equip a whip and hit Cecily and all 3 of them, you will kite 2 of them off Cecily this way. Or you can stealth knock out from behind 2/3 and deal with the other one together with Cecily, continue picking them off one by one together with Cecily afterward.
Even before the gob AI update I've lost Cecily in the northern tower a few times when she chased a shield goblin into a corner where it had nowhere to move. When stuck like that shielded enemies seem to focus on blocking attacks and it's not easy for comps to get hits in even with a fast weapon. When I had no ranged attacks to assist all I could do was watch her die slowly like the dumbass she is.
This all being said, these kinds of things only happen rarely and there's only been a few things I considered worth save scumming for on most of my playthroughs, but the thought of the game screwing me over with bad companion ai or inconvenient mechanics makes me give up on the idea of further doom playthroughs.
Truth be said, I never let them act independantly, I always order Cecily and Grey Rat to form a spear/wall formation in someplace I can retreat to and together 3 of us beat the shit out of whatever approaching. Letting them go off on their own in dark cave will kill Cecily off in seconds due to traps or agro. When such situation arise where Cecily do something stupid, you can always unequip your weapon and bitchslap her to get her to agro on you, thus running after you, she's very quick.
Anyways, I only ever use that duo to farm for level and stuffs, whenever I do some serious questing, I leave perma death companions at home and hire the riffraffs.
