Shro Games' Wartales is a medieval RPG in which players command a party of mercenaries in an unforgiving, plague-ravaged world. From the outset, players will notice the complexity and importance of each Companion in the party, and their role in relation to the others. After selecting a starting party, players will be able to customize the individual traits of each Companion. Traits, both positive and negative, can also be added to Companions later in the game, depending on their performance in combat and in each of their respective Professions.
Traits can influence a variety of aspects, from the overall party upkeep and Food requirements, to combat boons or penalties. Given that players can choose their companions' starting traits while assembling their starting party, it is important to choose traits that will provide maximum benefit to the party, and avoid those which will be of greater hindrance at the start of the game.
15 Brave
The "Brave" trait will be available to assign to companions from the start, and will provide an increase of 5% in either Strength or Dexterity (depending on the Companion's Class type) if they are outnumbered at the start of a battle. Given that players will often be outnumbered, particularly in the early game, this is a great choice of trait for members of the starting party.
14 Clever
The "Clever" trait can also be equipped from the opening character editor. It is a "natural" trait, meaning it must be equipped at spawn or on recruitment and cannot be acquired later in the game. The trait will earn companions 5% addition experience gain. As players can imagine, this trait can be very useful from the outset, particularly for classes who have a disadvantage in this area.
13 Resilient
The "Resilient" trait is an applied trait that is granted randomly to companions during combat. Offering a 5% chance of resisting Poison, Bleeding or Burning damage, this trait can be unlocked by companions who take any of those damage types in a battle. However, it is not recommended to put companions in danger purely to seek out this bonus, which is rare.
12 Brawny
The "Brawny" trait is also a natural trait, meaning it must be applied at spawn or already applied to a Companion before recruitment. This trait will grant a 5% increase to the Constitution attribute, which relates to player health and how much damage they are able to take before dying. This useful trait can help to balance out Companions with uneven Attribute Points.
11 Giant
The "Giant" trait is gifted at random during combat to any Companion who engages in two-handed combat. It offers an additional 5% increase to either Strength or Dexterity. The benefit of this trait lies in the fact that it can be granted to Archers as well as other two-handed classes like Spearman, Swordsman, and Brutes.
10 Solitary
"Solitary" is a natural trait that must be applied to companions at spawn and will not be generated randomly later in the game. Granting an additional 10% damage increase if fighting alone, this trait is incredibly useful for stronger warrior units who are capable of fighting alone. It will also come in handy at the start of each battle, where Companions are frequently drawn into solitary engagements.
9 Cooperative
"Cooperative" is a mirrored version of the Solitary trait, except rather than offer a 10% damage bonus when fighting alone, the perk is applied when fighting alongside other Companions. This trait can be particularly useful towards the end stages of battles, or when fighting elites in situations where Companions are forced to fight alongside one another.
8 Bloodthirsty
The "Bloodthirsty" trait can be applied during the character-creation stage and will provide a 3% increase to Critical Hit chance. Since this skill is relatively challenging to level up this trait can see an immediate boost in the frequency of Critical Hit chances, albeit a relatively minor one.
7 Second Line
The "Second Line" trait can be granted to Companions who do not participate in the first battle following their recruitment to the party. This trait will grant them a chance to produce 1 Valor Point at the end of each turn, if they finish the turn without being engaged in combat. This bonus to Valor Points is very useful, as it will enable the party to execute various special moves and abilities during combat.
6 Duelist
"Duelist" is a combat trait specifically for companions wielding one-handed weapons. Granting a 5% increase to both Critical Hit chance and Critical Hit damage, this trait will provide a noticeable difference in the frequency of Critical Hits. However, the trait is only applied to companions at random when they have engaged in one-handed combat.