Hi,

Have a question, sorry if that was already answered before - but I noticed, that my companions/sidekicks, who are waiting for me on the ship (and are not in my party) are participating is sea battles. Question is - does it matter to take them temporarily in party, level them up AND arm with good weapons? Or do they fight with some kind of default weapons? And one more - are all my crew members/inactive companions always joining close combat on sea or are there some restrictions? Thanks in advance!

You crew, all of them, not just companions, fight with what they have. Everybody who is above decks joins the fray.

Not all of your companions are above decks. Some are below. As I said, only those above deck will join the fray. Also, check you have AI enabled to get them to participate.

Great but how can we know that that particular companion is ABOVE deck?

Because you can see them and talk to them during normal sailing time (not battle). For example my Eder, Xoti and Aloth are below decks. My Maia and Tekehu are above decks. If they come above decks during battles you will see them and also be able to control them.

Go to your ship decks by the arrow at the top center of your screen during sailing.

Ah I see, really... And is there a possibility to change them manually, or are they above in a random order?

No, the game places them as well as your ship's crew. They're placed intelligently. For example, the cook is below decks, the helmsman is at the helm etc.