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Companions
March 18, 2026 at 02:36 AM
Major expansion: added Larry as fourth companion, Jay explosives detail, Zafar transponder role, non-field companion activities, romance details, dynamic crew interactions
Companions are a central part of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. They fight alongside the player in the field, offer commentary on the story, and develop personal arcs that intersect with the main narrative. Up to two companions accompany the player during missions, while the rest of the crew stays aboard the Gemini or leads secondary squads on parallel objectives. The companion system has been directly compared to Mass Effect 2 by Game Design Director Leonid Rastorguev, and for good reason: companions can permanently die depending on player choices. The game features at least six total companions across its runtime.
Companion | Background | Specialty |
|---|---|---|
Jay | The player character's twin sibling. Shares the player's gender, facial features, and origin background, but has a distinct personality and voice. Jay is the first companion to join the crew during the escape from Eros and remains a constant presence throughout the story. | Demolitions and area denial. Jay uses explosives to destroy sections of cover, exposing enemies and creating combat opportunities. Jay's kit complements aggressive playstyles by opening up sightlines and forcing enemies out of fortified positions. |
Zafar | A former MCRN (Martian Congressional Republic Navy) engineer who left military service under circumstances he does not discuss freely. Keeps the Gemini operational and handles transponder changes to avoid Protogen tracking. Dry, understated sense of humor. | Recon drone specialist. Zafar operates a combat/recon drone that can be directed to scout ahead, attack targets, provide suppressive fire, or project a temporary shield. His skill tree focuses on drone upgrades and ship-related technical abilities. |
Michael | A military-trained Earther with a background in UN security forces. Disciplined, direct, and sometimes abrasive. Joins the crew by accident rather than choice during the chaos following Eros, sticking around out of pragmatism rather than loyalty. | Frontline soldier. Michael excels at aggressive pushes and holding exposed positions. His abilities focus on personal durability, raw damage output, and suppressive fire. |
Larry | A Belter companion who speaks Belter Creole and uses the unique hand gestures and body language of Belt culture. Encountered outside Pinkwater Station. Has a personal quest involving delivering paintings to his mother on Ceres Station. | Not fully disclosed. Larry's combat specialty has not been revealed in detail, but his Belter background and personal connections across the Belt suggest he opens up unique quest content and social interactions on Belt stations. |
At least two more companions beyond these four are available over the course of the game. They will be encountered as the story progresses, recruited from various locations across the solar system. Each companion has a distinct personality, personal questline, and unique ability set.
During missions, the player selects two companions to bring into the field. The remaining crew members are not idle. They lead secondary squads, provide ship-based analysis, hack into systems remotely, or contact the player via radio with intelligence updates. In some missions, non-active companions temporarily appear at specific locations to provide support or participate in story events.
Choosing the right pair of companions for a mission is a tactical decision. Some missions favor a balanced squad with one ranged specialist and one close-range fighter, while others might benefit from two drone-focused companions who can lock down a large area. The player can swap their active companions between missions but cannot change the lineup mid-mission.
One of the most significant companion mechanics is permadeath. Companions can die permanently based on the player's decisions throughout the game. This is not limited to a single climactic choice at the end. Decisions made hours earlier, including how well the player has maintained their relationships and how they handle story-critical moments, determine who lives and who dies.
Rastorguev has explicitly cited Mass Effect 2's suicide mission as the inspiration. In that game, the survival of each squadmate depended on a web of choices made across the entire playthrough: loyalty missions, ship upgrades, and squad assignments during the final mission. Osiris Reborn applies a similar philosophy where long-term investment in companions through dialogue, side quests, and mission choices directly affects their survival odds.
When a companion dies, they are gone for the rest of the playthrough. Their gear, abilities, and unique dialogue are lost, and the story adjusts to reflect their absence. This gives weight to every major decision and creates meaningful consequences that persist through the rest of the game.
Romance options are confirmed for Osiris Reborn. Not every companion is romanceable, and the developers have stated they will not specify which ones are before launch. Romance develops organically through dialogue choices, time spent together during ship downtime, and personal quest progression. The developers have described the romance system as driven by the intimate setting: a small crew on a small ship, spending long stretches of travel time together between missions.
Romance ties into the companion permadeath system. Losing a romanced companion carries additional emotional and narrative weight, and the game's writing accounts for this. There is no mechanical "relationship meter" displayed on screen. Instead, companion reactions are organic: they respond to the player's choices, challenge decisions they disagree with, and remember past conversations.
Companions level up alongside the player. As they gain experience, the player can invest points in each companion's skill tree to unlock new abilities and passive upgrades. Equipment can also be changed, with companions able to use different weapons, armor pieces, and tech devices. Companions are less versatile than the player character; they have narrower skill trees that specialize in their particular combat role.
The way a player builds their companions should complement their own character build. A player who focuses on gunplay might want to invest in companions with strong tech abilities. A commander build that buffs companions benefits from investing in each companion's damage output and durability.
Companions are not passive tools. They argue with each other, challenge the player's choices, and have opinions about every major story development. Walking into the Gemini's common area after a contentious mission might reveal two companions in a heated disagreement. These dynamic reactions are not scripted cutscenes triggered at fixed points; they emerge from the combination of which companions are alive, what the player has done, and how the companions feel about each other.
Between missions, companions are available aboard the Gemini for conversations, side quests, and personal interactions. These moments are where much of the character development happens. Walking around the ship and checking in with each crew member after a major story event reveals new dialogue, personal reactions, and sometimes new quest hooks. The Gemini functions as a social hub in the same way the Normandy did in Mass Effect or the Ebon Hawk in Knights of the Old Republic. The quieter moments between missions are where the emotional stakes of the permadeath system are built.
