So I've finally gotten serious about this game, and to my dismay, I have invested most of my time thus far in what I assume is the hardest class to play, a Paladin. The reason I've had such a hard time getting to my current position is that aside from about 10 minutes of play time, I've been killing everything on my own. The dog died, the other Paladin companion died, within minutes of getting them. The problem is, as far as I can tell, you cannot resurrect them til level 15 when you become a Student in the school of magic that has the Raise Dead spell, in which case you are stuck killing every single mob on your own, which not only requires massive amounts of kiting, but also seriously cuts into your gold supply with constant trips back to town to repair, buy seals, potions and other things just to survive the maps.

Is there anything I'm missing?? Is there anyway to resurrect these two until you get the spell?? And if so, how is it even advisable to take them into certain dangerous areas before you reach level 15 have the means to revive them??

If I'm not mistaken, there really is no way to revive your fallen companions other than the Raise Dead spell. Until then, you just have to try to play it safe and do not let your enemies kill them - even though it can cost you quite a lot of health potions. I was playing as a priest mostly, but the tactics I was using when fighting alongside my companions was to first attack an enemy myself (with a spell or a seal from afar), and only after that to order my companions to charge (the "A" key) to finish the enemy together in one combined blow. Maybe it would be possible to employ this tactics as a paladin as well. Or, maybe your paladin knows a few useful spells that can affect your companions (like Solid Faith from the Divine Magic that temporarily adds bonuses to the physical and magic resistances (as the Book of Magic says)). And as far as more dangerous areas are concerned, either avoid entering them until absolutely necessary (after you have leveled up enough), or order your companions to wait for you somewhere safe in that area (the "G" key).

Thanks for the response, for the record, your advocacy of this game has been impressive since I learned of it. I did get the Raise Dead spell to resurrect my dog, and with two companions things are about 10 times easier. I did encounter a interesting bug though. I had the Paladin companion with me earlier in the game (Hugo I believe) and tried to get tricky when he was poisoned and about to die by abandoning and sending him back to town. Funny thing is, he transported to his pick-up place, but clearly died from poisoning while standing there. I wouldn't recommend this, since it makes him impossible to resurrect :P

This really is an interesting bug. Thanks for reporting it, I will make a note of it even though I don't think this bug will be fixed.

Yes, you can have more companions at a time and I don't think there are any requirements for that. The only one who doesn't like this is Hugo Montesque who doesn't trust other human companions much and generally refuses their presence. But if you let him go you can have other companions - Diabolus (dog, jail in Hillbrandt), Olfghard (archer, Asherbalt), Jacques de Pulein (knight, Von Hunth Settlement) and Nicolas (priest, Citadel Dungeon – Level 4). I think these get along each other fine. And if you play as a thief, you can also recruit a few soldiers in Asherbalt once it becomes your village. I think you can use any looted stash safely. I was putting items I wanted to keep for later in several stashes during the game, usually near the central town of the current Act.