Wasteland 2 Companion & Recruitment Guide: Best Recruits, Builds & Progression

The Rules of Squad Building

In Wasteland 2, your four custom-created Rangers are only half the battle. The remaining three slots in your squad belong to NPC recruits found across the wastes. Choosing the wrong companions will sabotage your playthrough through poor stat distribution, overlapping skills, or mid-combat insubordination.

To ensure your squad runs like a well-oiled war machine, stick to three golden rules:

• The 7-Member Rule: Always maintain a full 7-person squad (4 Custom Rangers + 3 Recruits) to maximize overall Action Points and skill coverage.
• Master Leadership: To prevent recruits from going rogue mid-fight, at least one custom Ranger must level up Leadership. High Leadership increases recruit hit chance while keeping their Rogue Chance at zero.
• Zero Skill Overlap: Never assign a primary utility skill (like Lockpicking or Surgeon) to more than one squad member. Redundant skills waste precious skill points.

Most Essential Skills for Smooth Progression

Before picking companions, understand which skills are mandatory for survival. Distribute these across your 4 custom Rangers and 3 recruits so that no skill is left behind:

Combat Skills (Mandatory for Everyone)

• Assault Rifles: The undisputed best weapon class in the game due to range, high armor penetration, and flexible burst modes.
• Sniper Rifles: Essential for initiating combat from extreme range and picking off high-threat targets.
• Shotguns or Energy Weapons: Excellent secondary choices for close-quarters crowd control or melting high-armor synths later in the game.

Critical Utility Skills (Tier S)

• Lockpicking & Safecracking: Opens 80% of loot containers and doors across Arizona and California.
• Demolitions: Disarms claymores, tripwires, and booby-trapped doors that can wipe out your team instantly.
• Field Medic & Surgeon: Field Medic heals HP during combat, while Surgeon stabilizes downed Rangers to prevent permanent death and cures severe injuries.
• Computer Science: Allows you to hack alarm systems, reprogram enemy robots to fight for you, and bypass high-tech locks.

Essential Social & Exploration Skills (Tier A)

• Perception: Passive skill that reveals hidden landmines, traps, secret loot caches, and buried mounds.
• Smart Ass / Hard Ass / Kiss Ass: Having at least one dedicated talking skill opens alternative quest paths, defuses unwinnable fights, and increases quest rewards.
• Toaster Repair: Yields unique quest items and high-tier loot throughout the entire game.

Best Recruits in Arizona (Early & Mid Game)

Angela Deth (Assault Rifles / Brute Force / Hard Ass)

• Location: Ranger Citadel courtyard (Right at the start).
• Role: High-damage enforcer.
• Strategy: She carries your under-leveled squad through the early game. However, [SPOILER] she leaves your party permanently at mid-game. Do not invest precious secondary utility points into her.

Vulture's Cry (Sniper Rifles / Perception / Animal Whisperer)

• Location: Highpool (Must rescue her from the cage).
• Role: Long-range scout and sniper.
• Strategy: One of the best early-game recruits if you choose Highpool over Ag Center. Her high Intelligence gives her plenty of skill points to handle long-range kills and trap spotting.

Ralphy Huevos (Brawling / Mechanical Repair / Toaster Repair)

• Location: Rail Nomads Camp.
• Role: Utility blank slate.
• Strategy: Starts with weak combat stats, but his low starting level makes him an excellent "blank slate." Level his Coordination/Speed and turn him into your primary repairs expert.

Scotchmo (Shotguns / Lockpicking / Barter)

• Location: Rail Nomads Camp.
• Role: Close-range tank.
• Strategy: Deals massive close-quarters AoE damage with shotguns. Keep extra alcohol in his inventory to maintain his combat buffs, and let him handle secondary lockpicking.

Best Recruits in Los Angeles (Late Game)

Pistol Pete (Handguns / Barter)

• Location: Santa Fe Springs.
• Role: Secondary DPS and merchant negotiator.
• Strategy: Joins with high Barter, drastically reducing vendor prices in the expensive late-game shops while dealing solid single-target pistol damage.

Lexcanium (Handguns / Computer Science)

• Location: Damonta.
• Role: Synthetic-hacker and tech specialist.
• Strategy: A cyborg who excels at hacking robotic threats in California. If your custom team lacks Computer Science, he is a mandatory pick.

Brother Thomas (Submachine Guns / Field Medic / Surgeon)

• Location: Los Feliz.
• Role: Late-game combat medic.
• Strategy: An incredible late-game recruit who brings high combat initiative alongside top-tier healing capabilities for the brutal final battles.

Stat & Skill Evolution Strategy

• Attribute Points (Every 10 Levels): Invest attribute points into Combat Initiative (Speed/Awareness) or Action Points (Coordination). Taking more turns per combat round is far more valuable than raw health points.
• Perk Selection: Focus on perks that improve accuracy, reduce Action Point costs (like Deadeye for snipers), or grant free movement (Tactical Positioning).
• Weapon Modifications: Install high-tier scopes, extended magazines, and barrel extensions to fix low base accuracy stats on recruits like Scotchmo or Ralphy.

Recommended Squad Composition

Balancing your recruits' skills with your custom Rangers guarantees you will never be locked out of a safe, wiped out by an unspotted landmine, or left stranded without a doctor when the wasteland hits back.