Possible to speed up "helper" NPCs?

[RikOz]

QoL inquiry:

 

Can something be done to speed up the various superpowered NPCs that appear in some missions as helpers, so that they can actually keep up with me?

 

The majority of "civilian" NPCs that I rescue and have to lead back to the exit seem to have no trouble at all sticking to my heels all the way back to the exit. Mr. Yin, in particular, is a remarkably speedy old guy. But in other missions, I rescue the likes of Miss Thystle, Frostfire, Silent Blade, etc., who are then supposed to "help" me, and I can't run 30 yards without them falling behind and complaining that I'm too quick and they can't keep up. These guys should be embarrassed that Mr. Yin can outrun them!

 

I mean, yeah, I can complete these missions without their help, but I'm one of those story-focused players who enjoys the immersion of "randomly" encountering another hero and teaming up with them, and it seriously breaks immersion when I have to repeatedly stop and go back and find these guys. It doesn't help that some powersets include run-speed boosting effects (like SR's "Quickness") that can't be turned off, but I also run into this problem with characters who have no speed boosts at all. I did one redside mission where I literally had to drag "Walk" onto my bars to escort an NPC to the exit, because I couldn't run 15 steps without this NPC "losing" me. While following me in a straight line, across an open field with no obstacles (outdoor map).

 

(Flying "helper' NPCs can keep up, but they have their own set of problems, like Overdrive flying clear to the other side of a large warehouse, far enough away from me to trigger her "I can't keep up" line.)

Edited July 8, 2021 by RikOz

[srmalloy]

6 hours ago, RikOz said:

But in other missions, I rescue the likes of Miss Thystle, Frostfire, Silent Blade, etc., who are then supposed to "help" me, and I can't run 30 yards without them falling behind and complaining that I'm too quick and they can't keep up.

Every time I see this happen, my mind flashes back to SWTOR and the fact that 'rescued' and 'hostage' NPCs can keep up with you even if you jump on a speeder bike and race back to where you need to drop them off. Sometimes it's the odd little bits like that which jump out at you.

[RikOz]

I did observe, last night while doing some of Maria Jenkins arc in Peregrine, that the various Freedom Phalanx members I was paired with in the missions kept up with me just fine, so I know it can be done.

 

I recall having the opposite problem in WoW. In that game, NPCs that accompany you tend to follow so closely that they obstruct your view of your own character. That was especially "fun" when one storyline had a friendly ogre accompanying me, and I happened to be playing a gnome. Could not see what I was doing at all.

[Tiger Shadow]

Mr. Yin is a badass, there's no shame in being outrun by him.