Zerith-Var, a Great Companion!

FabresFour

I just wanted to congratulate Zenimax on this companion. I haven’t seen much of Tanlorin yet, but Zerith… Wow, there’s so much interesting stuff! I was doing the Hidden Moon Temple quest in Elsweyr, and he has SO many interesting lines and comments about the mission. The journey becomes way more immersive with a companion that has this level of involvement, you know?

It would be great if all companions had this kind of depth in quests related to them!

Malyore

I agree. I was also going to make a Zerith appreciation post once I complete his entire story. But I've already seen several on the forums. Glad to see he's getting the love he deserves

spartaxoxo

Yes. I haven't had the chance to get Tanlorin yet but Zerith is fantastic.

Tra_Lalan

I really like his voice acting.

emilyhyoyeon

I'm definitely annoyed about another khajiit companion before all the main races are covered, but he's really good. He easily has my favorite personality. And he will probably be my main tank now with Azandar as main healer.

The specific point of OP where Zerith-var's ''involvement'' increases immersion is exactly how I felt as well. Really good, kudos to the writer

kind_hero

FabresFour wrote: »

I just wanted to congratulate Zenimax on this companion. I haven’t seen much of Tanlorin yet, but Zerith… Wow, there’s so much interesting stuff! I was doing the Hidden Moon Temple quest in Elsweyr, and he has SO many interesting lines and comments about the mission. The journey becomes way more immersive with a companion that has this level of involvement, you know?

It would be great if all companions had this kind of depth in quests related to them!

Totally agree!

Unfortunately I have done the Hidden Moon quest many years ago, so I don't remember much, but I loved that my main char had extra dialogue regarding the temple, and could get hints about that quest. I really like when the devs add such extra dialogue. I have done most of the quests in the game, so it feels more immersive to have all those experiences recognized in dialogues.

The team behind Zerith deserves all the praise! I will do Tanlorin next, but the bar is now high!

AvalonRanger

...He is nice guy. But, after finished all companion quest of him. Then, I'll back to the Ember.

TX12001rwb17_ESO

I do not like him, he is a hypocrite, if he was truly benevolent, he would not have become a Necromancer to begin with, the powers of a Templar could likely achieve the same goal.

He is undead yet condemns you for being Undead, if he dares call my Vampiric gift a curse then he and I can never be friends.

prof-dracko

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

I do not like him, he is a hypocrite, if he was truly benevolent, he would not have become a Necromancer to begin with, the powers of a Templar could likely achieve the same goal.

He is undead yet condemns you for being Undead, if he dares call my Vampiric gift a curse then he and I can never be friends.

Sounds like someone either hasn't done or didn't pay attention to his questline at all.

RaddlemanNumber7

Love his questline, despite the ending.

Not going to use him as a companion. This is mostly because of him speaking Ta'agra so much without making any effort to offer a translation. Where I come from such behaviour is the height of bad manners. It just feels so wrong.

Syldras

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

Not going to use him as a companion. This is mostly because of him speaking Ta'agra so much without making any effort to offer a translation. Where I come from such behaviour is the height of bad manners. It just feels so wrong.

To me it feels like they do it so he seems "exotic" (and emphasize very excessively that he's from a different time) and whether it makes any sense doesn't seem to be of much interest. Because, yes, it would make sense if he's talking in his language while being lost in thought or strong emotions are at play, when he's shocked or upset for example, but why would he do it in mundane situations like riding a horse or walking around in town, especially if he's clearly adressing the player character who clearly does not understand the language?

emilyhyoyeon

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

Not going to use him as a companion. This is mostly because of him speaking Ta'agra so much without making any effort to offer a translation. Where I come from such behaviour is the height of bad manners. It just feels so wrong.

I can't blame anyone for wanting a translation I suppose. Personally I love all the ta'agra and him not translating. It feels really natural to me. I moved to a foreign country in my early twenties and while I do speak the language fluently there's just a difference in certain contexts, like, of being excited where things come out in a certain flow where it just feels right to use my native language to express it and translating it after would be kinda weird.

It would be cool though if there were more translations/details on the TES languages like ta'agra, jel, (whatever the dunmer speak with the sera, f'lah), etc in the world to find and learn about.

I also like figuring out the meanings of things in the context. It makes the TES world feel much more real. But, I've been into learning languages my whole life.

karthrag_inak

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

Love his questline, despite the ending.

Not going to use him as a companion. This is mostly because of him speaking Ta'agra so much without making any effort to offer a translation. Where I come from such behaviour is the height of bad manners. It just feels so wrong.

https://www.taagra.com/

Syldras

emilyhyoyeon wrote: »

I can't blame anyone for wanting a translation I suppose. Personally I love all the ta'agra and him not translating. It feels really natural to me. I moved to a foreign country in my early twenties and while I do speak the language fluently there's just a difference in certain contexts, like, of being excited where things come out in a certain flow where it just feels right to use my native language to express it and translating it after would be kinda weird.

This is the problem, in my opinion: It just makes no sense context-wise. I don't have a big problem with it, but it just makes no sense and therefore it feels like "doing it to make him look exotic, for the sake of it", which feels constructed and not natural in the world of ESO. So, yes, a question of immersion - and it comes across as even weirder somehow, considering that the player character travels through many different counties in Tamriel but all commoners one randomly passes by, even in a remote village, no matter whether in Skyrim, Hammerfell, Elsweyr or Blackmarch, can clearly be understood - no one speaks in their native tongue, it seems, except for Zerith. Which is a little weird.

The question is really the context. It's absolutly clear he might use his native language when being excited or talking to himself, thinking about something, but not when he's clearly talking to the player character. When summoning a mount, he says something to the player character all the time (I think it's 4 or 5 different phrases). Why would he do that if he knows the player character doesn't understand this language? It would be different, I guess, if we got subtitles that provide a translation. In that case it would be a bit easier to imagine that our character has learned a bit of the language while travelling with Zerith (and we just haven't seen it on screen - just like many daily life things are omitted, we also don't see our character sleeping or showering, after all, so it is to be assumed we don't see anything that happens in their life anyway).

I'm all for including different native languages in the game, btw. I have a general interest in languages, too, no matter if real or fictional. But what matters is that it fits the context.

spartaxoxo

I've had friends make that mistake irl. It just tells me that Zerith is comfortable with you and sometimes he falls into it without thought.

Elvenheart

I love it when Zerith-var murmurs sweet nothings to me in ta’agra while we are out and about. It makes me melt. 🫠

Tazzy

My friend often says something in his native language, even without context. I usually don't understand it, but it's a little game for me to figure out what it means. So it doesn't sound unnatural to me when Zerith-var makes comments in ta’agra. I see it as if he is sharing something personal with me. And I also melt.

ArchMikem

If you have subtitles on, does the game translate for you? It'd be nice if it did, especially if the player character was also Khajiit and thus, possibly understood their native language.

Syldras

ArchMikem wrote: »

If you have subtitles on, does the game translate for you?

No.

I wish it would because in my case, friendship is based on understanding and a very important aspect is discussing our thoughts on a big variety of things, which obviously only works if one has a common language.

And yes, I see that Zerith might just not be for me then. Fine, but still a pity as he's a likeable character.

emilyhyoyeon

Syldras wrote: »

emilyhyoyeon wrote: »

I can't blame anyone for wanting a translation I suppose. Personally I love all the ta'agra and him not translating. It feels really natural to me. I moved to a foreign country in my early twenties and while I do speak the language fluently there's just a difference in certain contexts, like, of being excited where things come out in a certain flow where it just feels right to use my native language to express it and translating it after would be kinda weird.

This is the problem, in my opinion: It just makes no sense context-wise.

That's the difference. To me it does make sense in the context from the stuff I've seen. I've only done his intro quest and played with him a bit. What I can remember:

z'hal
tamiit

both of which seemed fine to me the way he used them. Z'hal wasn't translated soon after like tamiit IIRC but it didn't feel jarring to me, and when he finally does translate it, it made a lot of sense to me based on the context (foreign person/stranger). Z'hal could have a certain connotation that doesn't perfectly translate either. Like I never translate things like ''bro'' or ''vibe'' when not speaking English.

Mount-up phrases make a lot of sense to me for him to use his native language for. That's when I'd probably use some sort of excitement phrase, going based off of the mount up phrases of the other companions other than Azandar.

However, I will say that I think the devs who made Zerith-var added the ta'agra as they did just to convey the oldness/distance of him to everyone else because of (spoiler), not because of the thing I've been talking about.

But yeah really I agree it's a personality difference. Some people find this kind of thing that Zerith-var and I do is annoying and some people like it.

Syldras

emilyhyoyeon wrote: »

That's the difference. To me it does make sense in the context from the stuff I've seen. I've only done his intro quest and played with him a bit. What I can remember:
z'hal
tamiit
both of which seemed fine to me the way he used them. Z'hal wasn't translated soon after like tamiit IIRC but it didn't feel jarring to me, and when he finally does translate it, it made a lot of sense to me based on the context (foreign person/stranger).

I was completely fine with that (I liked it even) because it was absolutely clear from context or even explained what it means.

I see a difference between that situation and random exclamations in companion dialogue, though. What am I supposed to make of the 4 or 5 different things he yells when starting to ride a mount? Unfortunately, they're not on the list on his UESP page yet, but it's just something in Khajiiti that he yells, something different everytime, with no translation or anything more to it - and, no, to me it doesn't sound exited, but he's adressing the player character (sometimes he adds "Tamiit" to it, at the end of the sentence). It leaves me more or less clueless, asking myself what exactly he wants to tell me.

I have and had many friends and acquaintances from different countries with whom I talk (or talked) in English, as our common language, while it wasn't the mother tongue of any of us. It would have seemed weird to me if they just started to talk in Danish or Czech to me mid-conversation, for whatever reason, and while knowing I don't understand these languages.

Elvenheart

The character I use Zerith-var with is a vampire. Although Zerith-var doesn't like vampires for some reason, he tolerates my character being a vampire. I try not to offend his sensibilities by feeding around him, but that's another story. Something funny just happened, seemingly out of the blue Zerith-var just told my character, "You were paler than two moons a moment ago. Now you seem more yourself." It took a moment, but I realized my character had just dropped from Vampire Stage Four to Vampire Stage Three.

AlienSlof

I like being referred to as 'tamiit' - way better than the all too frequent 'comrade'.

TaSheen

AlienSlof wrote: »

I like being referred to as 'tamiit' - way better than the all too frequent 'comrade'.

And probably INFINITELY better than something like "proxy"!

ZOS_Kevin

FabresFour wrote: »

I just wanted to congratulate Zenimax on this companion. I haven’t seen much of Tanlorin yet, but Zerith… Wow, there’s so much interesting stuff! I was doing the Hidden Moon Temple quest in Elsweyr, and he has SO many interesting lines and comments about the mission. The journey becomes way more immersive with a companion that has this level of involvement, you know?

It would be great if all companions had this kind of depth in quests related to them!

Thanks for the love for Zerith-Var! The team works really hard to tell compelling stories with the companions,.so it always warms our hearts when those stories are well received.

zaria

kind_hero wrote: »

FabresFour wrote: »

I just wanted to congratulate Zenimax on this companion. I haven’t seen much of Tanlorin yet, but Zerith… Wow, there’s so much interesting stuff! I was doing the Hidden Moon Temple quest in Elsweyr, and he has SO many interesting lines and comments about the mission. The journey becomes way more immersive with a companion that has this level of involvement, you know?

It would be great if all companions had this kind of depth in quests related to them!

Totally agree!

Unfortunately I have done the Hidden Moon quest many years ago, so I don't remember much, but I loved that my main char had extra dialogue regarding the temple, and could get hints about that quest. I really like when the devs add such extra dialogue. I have done most of the quests in the game, so it feels more immersive to have all those experiences recognized in dialogues.

The team behind Zerith deserves all the praise! I will do Tanlorin next, but the bar is now high!

The benefit of alts, I also don't remember it and done Elsweyr twice but plan to do it again for this.
And an well written story line.

Now he is a bit soft spoken so its a bit easy to loose his comments if other noise like npc talking or combat but I have it on chat anyway.

metheglyn

TaSheen wrote: »

AlienSlof wrote: »

I like being referred to as 'tamiit' - way better than the all too frequent 'comrade'.

And probably INFINITELY better than something like "proxy"!

Haha, so true! Every time Leramil calls me proxy, I get annoyed. The fact that she uses it far too much doesn't help.

On topic, though, I adore Zerith-Var. I was uncertain how I would feel about a necromancer companion, as I'm not a fan of the necromancer class itself, but Zerith-Var's version of it works for me and fits with his story. I love his voice, his attitude, and his quests. Now he's in a three-way tie for favorite companion along with Bastian and Sharp. Love these guys!

Cooperharley

The stories always knock it out of the park. Sharp & Azander were phenomenal. I admit, I'm still not even caught up with these new ones as I've been experimenting with new builds for the new BGs and stuff, but from what I hear, they're incredible! Phenomenal job guys

I'd love to have the option to skip the intro quests for alts though personally! It'd be nice to have my companion buddy ready to rock when i make a new character versus needing (now) 8 intro quests! Just a thought

Kelenan7368

Personally I think a Necro that hates Vampirism is counter intuitive.

TX12001rwb17_ESO

prof-dracko wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

I do not like him, he is a hypocrite, if he was truly benevolent, he would not have become a Necromancer to begin with, the powers of a Templar could likely achieve the same goal.

He is undead yet condemns you for being Undead, if he dares call my Vampiric gift a curse then he and I can never be friends.

Sounds like someone either hasn't done or didn't pay attention to his questline at all.

I already know of his questline, he uses Necromancy to free Dro-m'athra and they reused the Azh'm'Athra Radiant mount as a monster near the end of his questline, Templar magic could likely of achieved the same results.

The thing is he hates Vampires but I main Vampires so I hate him, he even said "Please do not spread your curse" when biting another player at the Vampire shrine.

Tazzy

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

he even said "Please do not spread your curse" when biting another player at the Vampire shrine.

Lol - but you have to admit, he asks very politely.