Azandar appreciation thread

AnduinTryggva · October 2

When I discovered Sharp, I thought: This is the companion I was looking for all the time. Really great character and with some sharp remarks that I like.

I did not call on Azandar even having him unlocked for a long time.

But now recently I tried and I really think he is great fun to have around. I really like when he laughs out loud in a fight. And the laid back attitude. Someone appreciating time off from duty. Makes him so human. Really nice.

If it would fit for other characters in terms of role play I'd run around with him all the time.

BretonMage · October 2

I love Sharp, but Azandar is my bestie forever. He's a lot of fun. I still laugh after months of hearing him say, "Ugh. Dirt fungus."

fizl101 · October 2

Sharp is still my favorite personality wise, but Azandar gets used more as his buffs work well with my character

AzuraFan · October 2

I use Azandar most of the time because I'm lazy. He keeps me alive the longest when I'm doing stuff that's hard to solo for me, and I'm just too lazy to pull out another companion (like Mirri) when I'm doing easier stuff. I didn't like him at first, but he's grown on me. I still like Mirri better, though.

Credible_Joe · October 2

old man noises

- Azandar al-Cybiades

Fischblut · October 2

Azandar is my favorite of all companions so far

He almost never gets negative rapport from my gameplay. His crazy laughter variants are awesome! And his phrases when entering combat are hilarious and entertaining.

He doesn't like to enter combat because he prefers to study books etc... So it cracks me up when he engages enemies and shouts at them for interrupting his peace: "This is intolerable!" , "I am a scholar, dammit!"

Then he sometimes gets too much adrenaline and shouts "I'm still feisty!" after the combat ends.

For my taste, there are two things which should be removed from him for perfection and peaceful gameplay: negative rapport from gathering mushrooms, and negative reactions when killing critters.
Mushrooms are useful in alchemy, and critters drop loot for alchemy/food/fishing bait. It's unpleasant to hear bad things (from Azandar) when I joyfully gather all those ingredients

I have a little compilation of his voice lines (not full, sadly):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M5xATAHivU

RaikaNA · October 2

AzuraFan · October 2

Credible_Joe wrote: »

old man noises

- Azandar al-Cybiades

I cringe every time I see that subtitle. What are "old man noises"? Replace "old man" with any other group (LGBT, person-of-colour, female, for example) and that subtitle wouldn't be allowed to exist (and rightly so). Why not just "groan" or "snort" or whatever the heck he's actually doing?

Syldras · October 2

AzuraFan wrote: »

I cringe every time I see that subtitle. What are "old man noises"? Replace "old man" with any other group (LGBT, person-of-colour, female, for example) and that subtitle wouldn't be allowed to exist (and rightly so). Why not just "groan" or "snort" or whatever the heck he's actually doing?

To me it feels a little weird too, but it's a meme, I think?

Ingel_Riday · October 2

I like the character, too. All the more-so after getting to chat with his voice actor.

A lot of passion and creativity went into that role, and he's a fully realized character. I appreciate it. Also helps that Azandar has some great damage shields, healing spells, and overall utility. He's the full package.

I just don't use him very much because he is incredibly restrictive crafting-wise. I think a little under half of all alchemical ingredients come from mushrooms, and he gets upset if you pick them. It's like Mirrir's torchbug quirk, but even worse and more intrusive. As much as I liked wandering with the fellow, it was too inconvenient to switch him out each time I had to pick up a mushroom.

Now I mainly wander with Sharp, Mirri, or Ember. They all have far less scruples. Or, rather, scruples that don't conflict as much with my day to day actions.

IncultaWolf · October 2

He's definitely become one of my favorites after finishing his questline. Like others have said, he feels like the most laid back companion, even more than Sharp.

Syldras · October 2

Now I forgot to give my own opinion

Anyway, Azandar is my favorite companion so far. I can't even say what exactly the reasons are, I just find him amusing and likeable. The mushroom thing doesn't bother me much, I rarely collect them anyway. I have hundreds in my bank, rarely use them for potions, they don't sell well either. There's just no reason for me to harvest them when I have Azandar around.

AzuraFan · October 2

Syldras wrote: »

To me it feels a little weird too, but it's a meme, I think?

I didn't know that. I don't think it's a good idea to make subtitles based on memes.

Syldras · October 2

AzuraFan wrote: »

I didn't know that. I don't think it's a good idea to make subtitles based on memes.

Yeah, I think the same. Many people will not understand them for different reasons: Some people don't care for memes. Some memes are completely unknown in most countries. Some will be forgotten in a few years and then won't be understood anymore (but then again, who knows how long ESO will last anyway).

But they've been doing that before. I think I read that Sharp also uses some, and Bastian makes one joke that's, at least I've been told, some old gag from some US comedian. I just looked it up again, it was this line: "I don't have a romantic partner back home, but I know a girl who would get mad if she heard me say that." For everyone who doesn't know this joke (like about everyone who is not from the US - that comedian isn't known abroad) it just feels random. To me it felt completely out of character for Bastian to say.

spartaxoxo · October 2

I like Azandar. He's a bit of a pompous but he's fun company. I think Sharp and Azandar are two of the best written companions in the game.

BretonMage · October 2

AzuraFan wrote: »

Credible_Joe wrote: »

old man noises

- Azandar al-Cybiades

I cringe every time I see that subtitle. What are "old man noises"? Replace "old man" with any other group (LGBT, person-of-colour, female, for example) and that subtitle wouldn't be allowed to exist (and rightly so). Why not just "groan" or "snort" or whatever the heck he's actually doing?

I admit that as an aging person myself, I can absolutely sympathise with these old person noises. They're the grunts of frustration and discomfort that I would make more often if I were less self-conscious.

I don't know if other people of that age group find it offensive, but I actually find them funny and endearing.

AzuraFan · October 2

Syldras wrote: »

But they've been doing that before. I think I read that Sharp also uses some, and Bastian makes one joke that's, at least I've been told, some old gag from some US comedian. I just looked it up again, it was this line: "I don't have a romantic partner back home, but I know a girl who would get mad if she heard me say that." For everyone who doesn't know this joke (like about everyone who is not from the US - that comedian isn't known abroad) it just feels random. To me it felt completely out of character for Bastian to say.

As long as the subtitle matches what the person is saying, or what's coming out of their mouth in the case of a groan or grunt or scream, I'm fine with it. It would be difficult for the writers to consider every country when writing the text, though I agree that using jokes from specific comedians is probably not a good idea.

BretonMage wrote: »

I admit that as an aging person myself, I can absolutely sympathise with these old person noises. They're the grunts of frustration and discomfort that I would make more often if I were less self-conscious.

Then the subtitle should say "grunts in discomfort" or something along those lines. "Old man noises" tells me nothing. It tells a hearing-impaired person nothing except that he's making some noise that apparently only older men can make. I guess whoever wrote the subtitle was thinking of the meme. They forgot about what purpose the subtitles are supposed to serve.

anadandy · October 2

Azander is the best companion for my container looting thieving Bosmer. Not only does he not care that she's stealing, he also gives the chance at extra loot (research portfolios) AND gets a reputation bump if the loot is a magical curiosity. Win win!

SickleCider · October 2

I find some of his voice lines grating. They can be pretentiously verbose, like he's got a pocket thesaurus always handy and he's trying to reach some sort of word count. I have that issue with a handful of the Apocrypha aligned NPCs. It gives me the impression that whoever wrote the dialogue doesn't actually understand how intelligent, knowledgeable people speak.

. . .

All that being said, you're all convincing me to give him another shot.

oldbobdude · October 2

I use him as a tank and since he reached level 20 he stays alive through most solo content. Like others I also like his laughs.

Syldras · October 2

SickleCider wrote: »

I find some of his voice lines grating. They can be pretentiously verbose, like he's got a pocket thesaurus always handy and he's trying to reach some sort of word count.

Can you give me a few examples? I play the German translation and there, he doesn't sound overly complicated. The only terms that seem uncommon just sound a bit quirky and sometimes "dated" - like terms that were more common during the childhood or youth of people who are old today and that aren't regularly used today anymore.

In case of Leramil (as noted, in the German translation) I found it more annoying that she often uses terms that seem a bit more educated, but not as complicated that no one would comprehend them (normal formal or technical language so to say) - but then always makes remarks as if the player character would be too dumb to understand them anyway.

Jaimeh · October 2

I haven't played a lot with either Sharp or Azandar but I think what they have in common would be their sort of indifference if the Vestige died... Sharp would hurry to take all our stuff, and Azandar would find a weird way to brew us for tea

BretonMage · October 3

AzuraFan wrote: »

[

BretonMage wrote: »

I admit that as an aging person myself, I can absolutely sympathise with these old person noises. They're the grunts of frustration and discomfort that I would make more often if I were less self-conscious.

Then the subtitle should say "grunts in discomfort" or something along those lines. "Old man noises" tells me nothing. It tells a hearing-impaired person nothing except that he's making some noise that apparently only older men can make. I guess whoever wrote the subtitle was thinking of the meme. They forgot about what purpose the subtitles are supposed to serve.

It's a fair point. I guess I saw it more in a positive, light-hearted way, for other older people to commiserate with our discomforts. I know in some contexts, "old man/woman" can be meant in a negative way, and I hate it when that happens.

I was actually unaware of the meme. I looked up "old man noises" meme, but only saw "angry old man noises" which is a different context.

I have to say, including memes as dialogue lines is often annoying. Even Sharp has lots of meme lines ("Skill issue") which can take me out of immersion, even if they are funny.

TaSheen · October 3

Oh, I could quote "old man noises" forever, since husband is 90+.... I'm considerably younger ("only" 77) and I do my best to not make "old woman noises" because to husband it seems like I'm mocking him.... I'm not, but hey - one does what one needs to do to keep the peace.

Tesman85 · October 3

Azandar is definitely great! I use him as a healer and he does a good job at that, he's second only to Isobel when it comes to survivability.

Also, the character is very well-written and voice acted. He really feels like a slightly cracked scholar. His questline was very entertaining, not least because of the dialogue. All told, he's nice to have around and is the constant companion of my arcanist Dunmer.

I don't find his quirks impairing his usefulness any. The mushroom disposition drop is only -1, and has a timer. It is easily counterbalanced by reading an occasional book and killing monsters he doesn't like etc. So the only handicap is if one doesn't like to heart his complaining (which I find funny).

I think some people take the "old man noise" thing a tad too seriously. Come on, anyone with a working hearing who is or has known an older man with stiff muscles or joints knows what is meant, and the subtitle certainly isn't meant to be derogatory. It's just a slightly comic (if not best possible) way to express the sound.

SickleCider wrote: »

I find some of his voice lines grating. They can be pretentiously verbose, like he's got a pocket thesaurus always handy and he's trying to reach some sort of word count. I have that issue with a handful of the Apocrypha aligned NPCs. It gives me the impression that whoever wrote the dialogue doesn't actually understand how intelligent, knowledgeable people speak.

Isn't that verbosity meant to be satiric? At least that's the impression I get. It's like the mentioned characters are somewhat puffed-up know-it-alls trying to impress the player character, even though their knowledge really isn't that spectacularly deep or awesome. I find it quite funny, since I've run across such people IRL often enough.

Pelanora · October 3

SickleCider wrote: »

I find some of his voice lines grating. They can be pretentiously verbose, like he's got a pocket thesaurus always handy and he's trying to reach some sort of word count. I have that issue with a handful of the Apocrypha aligned NPCs. It gives me the impression that whoever wrote the dialogue doesn't actually understand how intelligent, knowledgeable people speak.

. . .

All that being said, you're all convincing me to give him another shot.

This is my first impression. How people imagine an old oxford Don, but not remotely like one. I was sorry.

Syldras · October 3

Tesman85 wrote: »

He really feels like a slightly cracked scholar.

Which might be the reason for a slightly strange, overcomplicated style of speech? He's not just supposed to be intelligent and well-read, he has spent years (or decades even) in Apocrypha which is known to turn people insane and to estrange them from the ordinary world.

SilverBride · October 3

I love Azandar and use him most of the time that I need a Companion. He makes a great tank. But I use Sharp when I want a Companion to do damage.

BretonMage · October 3

Tesman85 wrote: »

Isn't that verbosity meant to be satiric? At least that's the impression I get. It's like the mentioned characters are somewhat puffed-up know-it-alls trying to impress the player character, even though their knowledge really isn't that spectacularly deep or awesome. I find it quite funny, since I've run across such people IRL often enough.

I think Azandar is supposed to be slightly neurodivergent? (Going off one of his idle lines: "You have most likely noticed, but all my life I have erm. Struggled. With communication, commiseration. My intellect is attuned to a frequency all its own."). So I think him going deep into esoterica with us is not surprising to me.

AnduinTryggva · October 3

Syldras wrote: »

SickleCider wrote: »

I find some of his voice lines grating. They can be pretentiously verbose, like he's got a pocket thesaurus always handy and he's trying to reach some sort of word count.

Can you give me a few examples? I play the German translation and there, he doesn't sound overly complicated. The only terms that seem uncommon just sound a bit quirky and sometimes "dated" - like terms that were more common during the childhood or youth of people who are old today and that aren't regularly used today anymore.

In case of Leramil (as noted, in the German translation) I found it more annoying that she often uses terms that seem a bit more educated, but not as complicated that no one would comprehend them (normal formal or technical language so to say) - but then always makes remarks as if the player character would be too dumb to understand them anyway.

With Leramil I see this as a sort of running joke. She tries to talk like she thinks Mora would talk and likes to use metaphores like she believes Mora would use. While explaining something in this manner she realizes that she actually talks in a too complicated manner and that she strays apart.

For me it sounds like an expert in a specific science field talking to someone outside his world and only in the middle realizes that he uses the jargon common in his world but which is very specific to this world.

These kind of professional jargons do exist.

MasterSpatula · October 3

I like how both Bastian and Azander give a 5-point rapport boost for looting a Psijic Portal, but while Bastian's like, "WOW! Psijic Portal! That's so neat," Azander is like, "YEAH! [snip] them Psijics!" Makes me laugh every time.

[edited for profanity bypass]