valerian ice on Oct 22, 2015 wrote:

Do you level them all up or just a few? If you level them all up each time, how can you afford to? I am brawling on quite a few but I like to level with gold 4 at the least and I can never have enough gold. Any ideas? I am sorta new to the game and just winging it mostly.

I tried to level my best, then my secondary team. I put most of my least favorite on Plunderin' and Scavengin'.
As soon as I recruited a companion I put them on Keel Haulin' ( even one tome in 24 hours will save thousands in gold in the upper levels. )
If you can, try putting the entire crew on Scavengin' or Plunderin' and take a few days to a week off from questing and just collect from the companions.

I play with a random team, so I like to keep everyone as leveled as possible. This can become quite expensive unless, as anecorbie advised already, put those companions who are equal to or above your level onto Keel Haulin' until you have ten tomes. Then stop collecting from them so they have tomes in reserve. Once you start hitting max gold, buying training tomes is a good way to spend some also.

Don't use a tome unless you can get a whole level out of it is also a good rule of thumb. I know there are folks who don't train until they can get 4 levels per tome, but if you want these guys to be able to pitch in on short notice due to someone else going on Bed Rest, keep them close to your own level.

I generally have three or four companions on Sailin' to keep the nautical level up until you max it, and another bunch on Pet Wranglin' -- I do fewer now than I used to, just because too many eggs. I don't like to have to sell them, but lately there's no choice. Maxed companions will bring you the highest level snacks now, but if you have a lot of pets who love MooShu and Marleybone snacks, keeping a few companions in the 55-60 range will bring you more of those type snacks.

What else? Oh, yes, Brawlin' -- if a companion is really close to leveling up without a tome, send them off Brawlin' to top off their experience on their own. Scavenging is a good way to get gear/gold if you need it, and Plunderin' is nice when you score the jackpot, but at lower levels, use Scavenging instead for quicker gold.

I level them all, simply because even if you dont plan to use some of them, being higher/max level make them better at whatever task you're going to give them.

However I only use a tome when I'm 5 levels higher than the companion, in which case they get 2 levels if I remember right.

Also at low-mid level I put everyone I dont plan to use on Sailing because training nautical manually is a chore.

I only use other tasks when nautical has caught up to my level, except for the few times I use Brawlin' when a companion is close to level like Willow explained, it saves tomes in the long run.