When traveling through Hope County, you encounter many people and animals who wish to join you in the fight against the Peggies. These characters are categorized as specialists and fighters. Having one of these companions with you can often mean the difference between life and death.
Specialists appear on the map with a radio message when your cursor hovers over their location. They are typically tied to story missions or to liberating a certain location. Specialists come with two abilities that are extremely powerful and unique to that individual and to the specific situation. Recruit them based on your preferred playstyle and your current needs. There are three specialists in each region of the map, for a total of nine.
Fighters are found all over Hope County by liberating outposts, being freed from capture, or just patrolling through the wilderness. Fighters also have two random abilities that unlock by killing enemies; these can be quite strong if you invest the time with them. You can recruit up to three fighters at any one time and summon whichever one is most useful or if one of your other guns for hire is resting. At the beginning of the game, you are only able to recruit fighters to help you with your fight against the Peggies.
In combat, specialists and fighters following you engage any enemies you are already fighting. However, you can direct them to attack specific targets or move to specific areas to override their normal behavior. If one of your followers is defeated in combat, they are not permanently dead. They simply need time to heal and cannot be summoned again until their cooldown timer is up. Putting points into the Leader perk tree can reduce this cooldown and allow you to summon another follower in your squad. In addition, your follower can revive you if the enemy strikes you down, making them essential companions.