Zerith-Var, a Great Companion!

StarOfElyon · November 19

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!

I'm tempted to play again just to do his quest.

AcadianPaladin · November 20

Though Mirri's place is not in jeopardy here, I readily admit that Zerith-var is a well done companion. I congratulate ZoS and am pleased that the OP is enjoying him.

Like @AlienSlof I find the term tamiit endearing. Far superior to 'Little Mortal'.

The story and voicing for Zerith are well done.

katanagirl1 · November 20

I just finished his quests to unlock him this morning and I am really appreciating him so far. I was late for lunch because I wanted to hear all of his dialog options and didn’t want to pick up the rest of the quest line later.

I look forward to his rapport quests as well.

peregrinechemist · November 20

I'm also super-impressed with his personality and storyline. Excellent writing, acting, and design.

msetten · November 20

I like him too as a tank. Seems to work really well (of course nothing beats a real and good player tank). Also laughed out loud when he said "At last these shores are free of the terror you call ... mudcrab" after killing a mudcrab.

Sapphire_Lily · November 20

I re-did the elswyr prologue quest to unlock his approval quest on an alt and his dialogue about Abnar Tharn made me laugh a lot! I adore this Khajiit, he’s uspered Sharp as my favourite.

LalMirchi · November 20

A gentle suggestion...

Perhaps the two companions should not have been released at the same time?

One story stands far above the other, I'm sorry but I've played slowly through both companions questline, I suggest that releasing the companions simultaneously is a mistake.

Syldras · November 20

LalMirchi wrote: »

A gentle suggestion...
Perhaps the two companions should not have been released at the same time?
One story stands far above the other, I'm sorry but I've played slowly through both companions questline, I suggest that releasing the companions simultaneously is a mistake.

Could you elaborate? Do you think the writing for Tanlorin was worse because the writers didn't have sufficient time to write two companions until the planned release date? Because as far as I know it were completely different writing teams.

And in my opinion, writing I dislike remains writing I dislike, whether I have another story I like much better released at the same time or not. I wouldn't enjoy Tanlorin's writing more just because there's nothing else to do.

Although in my case, I'm also extremely annoyed by the voice acting for Tanlorin in my localization. I'm not saying the voice actress in German is bad - no, she has voiced different female Altmer and Bosmer before, and always did a very good job! It's the way of speaking - over-pronounced, high-pitched/squeaky, cliché youthful/cheerful... - the voice actress was clearly asked to speak this way for this character (for other characters she acted differently), and she does it belieavably, but I just have a strong dislike for that style. It's basically on a level with "nails of chalkboard" for me and I've decided to stop levelling Tanlorin (to maximum rapport and level, for the achievements) because I really don't want to hear a word from this character ever again. Never happened to me with any ESO character before, although Eveli Sharp-Arrow was also annoying - but never reached that level for me.

Zerith, on the other hand, has a nice voice, and the voice actor also conveys emotions very well.

LalMirchi · November 20

Syldras wrote: »

LalMirchi wrote: »

A gentle suggestion...
Perhaps the two companions should not have been released at the same time?
One story stands far above the other, I'm sorry but I've played slowly through both companions questline, I suggest that releasing the companions simultaneously is a mistake.

Could you elaborate? Do you think the writing for Tanlorin was worse because the writers didn't have sufficient time to write two companions until the planned release date? Because as far as I know it were completely different writing teams.

And in my opinion, writing I dislike remains writing I dislike, whether I have another story I like much better released at the same time or not. I wouldn't enjoy Tanlorin's writing more just because there's nothing else to do.

Although in my case, I'm also extremely annoyed by the voice acting for Tanlorin in my localization. I'm not saying the voice actress in German is bad - no, she has voiced different female Altmer and Bosmer before, and always did a very good job! It's the way of speaking - over-pronounced, high-pitched/squeaky, cliché youthful/cheerful... - the voice actress was clearly asked to speak this way for this character (for other characters she acted differently), and she does it belieavably, but I just have a strong dislike for that style. It's basically on a level with "nails of chalkboard" for me and I've decided to stop levelling Tanlorin (to maximum rapport and level, for the achievements) because I really don't want to hear a word from her ever again. Never happened to me with any ESO character before, although Eveli Sharp-Arrow was also annoying - but never reached that level for me.

Zerith, on the other hand, has a nice voice, and the voice actor also conveys emotions very well.

I hesitate to elaborate but what you have stated is what I have experienced. Zerith-var was excellently portrayed, I wish Tanlorin's character, questline and vocals were better, as a very personal opinion.

Necrotech_Master · November 20

out of all the companions, i think i enjoy zerith-var the most in terms of the personality and voice acting

however, until we can just use companions on alts without having to rerun the quest, hes gonna mostly collect dust for me

zaria · November 20

msetten wrote: »

I like him too as a tank. Seems to work really well (of course nothing beats a real and good player tank). Also laughed out loud when he said "At last these shores are free of the terror you call ... mudcrab" after killing a mudcrab.

Well they would still have mudcrabs back in his time, we have them in Oblivion and Skyrim. Now they might be called something else back then.

Asdara · November 21

For me Zerith is one of the best companion so far, bring me tears a few times speaking of jak and seeing the despair in him after finding about rawlka

Hapexamendios · November 21

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"!

How about cohort?

TaSheen · November 21

Hapexamendios wrote: »

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"!

How about cohort?

Ehm, that too.... I mean.... how could one person be a "cohort" (as in a group of people, or a Roman military unit)!

Syldras · November 21

TaSheen wrote: »

Ehm, that too.... I mean.... how could one person be a "cohort" (as in a group of people, or a Roman military unit)!

In German he says "colleague".
Proxy became "fate's chosen".
Vestige became "soul-deprived one".

Elvenheart · November 21

Syldras wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

Ehm, that too.... I mean.... how could one person be a "cohort" (as in a group of people, or a Roman military unit)!

In German he says "colleague".
Proxy became "fate's chosen".
Vestige became "soul-deprived one".

I like the German terms better, although vestige is ok. Fate’s chosen is MUCH better than proxy, and colleague is better than cohort imo.

Syldras · November 21

Elvenheart wrote: »

I like the German terms better, although vestige is ok. Fate’s chosen is MUCH better than proxy, and colleague is better than cohort imo.

What are the other ones in English?

Also, "vestige" is a little amusing if one knows the etymology. Latin "vestigium" is the foot sole, and, related to it, the imprints the foot sole leaves, which then generally became "trace" and "remain".

Then, on the other hand, calling the player character something foot-related might not be that inaccurate considering how often we're supposed to run errands

TaSheen · November 21

I'm very fond of the German as opposed to the English. German friend told me early on what they were.... English can be such a stick-in-the-mud language....

Orbital78 · November 21

His beckoning armor screams new bis companion tank.

dinokstrunz · November 21

Yeah a very nice companion, much better story than Tanlorins. Awesome voice acting too. This is coming from someone who usually can't stand companions.

katanagirl1 · November 21

TaSheen wrote: »

Hapexamendios wrote: »

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"!

How about cohort?

Ehm, that too.... I mean.... how could one person be a "cohort" (as in a group of people, or a Roman military unit)!

I was actually confused about the use of cohort in West Weald with that meaning I was not familiar with. I had heard cohort used as a term for a single companion instead.

TaSheen · November 21

katanagirl1 wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

Hapexamendios wrote: »

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"!

How about cohort?

Ehm, that too.... I mean.... how could one person be a "cohort" (as in a group of people, or a Roman military unit)!

I was actually confused about the use of cohort in West Weald with that meaning I was not familiar with. I had heard cohort used as a term for a single companion instead.

Well, this may be a case of meaning changing over time. When I was young (in college), the only meaning I ever knew was as above - and in the case of the Roman military unit, it was specified as 300-600 soldiers.

Today, the "singular" cohort is there on the list of definitions - and in fact, until I looked this morning, I'd never seen it used that way at all. Interestingly enough, in the search page, Merriam-Webster is the major result which starts with a singular definition: companion, colleague.

Seems to be another case of me not paying much attention to how some things have changed over time!

ellmarie · November 21

Also agree! Love him! And the highlighted heavy sacks!

Ingel_Riday · November 21

Yeah, I ended up really liking Zerith-Var.

I had been hoping for a naughty necromancer, so getting another lawful good character kind of peeved me at first. But he's pretty well-written, has some great abilities, and his hidden-bag perk is great. All in all, he's my favorite of the two new companions.

Only minor grumbles:

- I did not like how his questline belittled the Riddle'Thar. I'm as much an Azura groupie as the next guy, but treating the Riddle'Thar like a hollow usuper faith without the oomph to actually get things done... felt tacky. Didn't have to lessen the current religion to prop up Azura worship. I also didn't like that the only key representatives of the Riddle'Thar during the plot were a bunch of inquisition jerks who served as cannon fodder for everyone else. You know, because the Riddle'Thar sucks.

- I felt a disconnect between myself and the writers. Betraying your mentor, slitting her throat, and releasing your corrupted lover onto the world to devour the souls of tens of thousands of innocent people rather than putting her down... is such an obscenely selfish, evil, wretched thing. But the plot acts like it's perfectly understandable, and all your dialogue options are various versions of "Hey, dude... it's all good. You hesitated out of love. No harm no foul, so long as love is involved. We all forgive you. YOU NEED TO LEARN TO FORGIVE YOURSELF, YO! Mistakes happen, bro."

No. No, no, no, no, no . He didn't just spill a cup of tea or break a plate. Vast numbers of people were condemned to eternal madness and hunger because of his weak will and selfishness. He doesn't need to learn to forgive himself. He needs to learn the importance of duty and atone for his horrific, ghastly, almost incomprehensibly awful failure.

But nope. The player just offers various permutations of support and then helps Zerith put away some scrolls and bury some bones. (Who knew housekeeping = atonement for aiding and abetting mass slaughter?) Then the modern Disney trope of "evil female characters aren't really evil. They're just misunderstood and always have the chance for redemption" creeps in. Even after all she's done, Zerith's lover isn't evil and irredeemable. No, she's just misunderstood and we need to show her love and kindness. Redeem her, so she can go to cat-heaven. Aw!

Bleh. Worst of all, after she's redeemed, Zerith-Var says that he's totally over her and moving on with his life. Great, so you let tens of thousands of people die (and not only die, but be corrupted for all of eternity into void monsters) because you couldn't part with her even though she was clearly a shadow monster, but now that she's not a shadow monster... you're totally over her? WHAT?! You willingly languished in purgatory for thousands of years because of your love for her, condemned tens of thousands to madness for her, and after she's redeemed... you amicably break up with her? You're an idiot, Zerith. A morally bankrupt, self-righteous, absolute idiot.

TLDR: I have some issues with his main questline, but eh. Once it's over and done with, his companion dialogue lines are great and I like him having him around. Overall, a good companion.

Edit additon: fixed some typos. I need more caffeine.

prof-dracko · November 21

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

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.

His questline is about a group of templars very much not being able to do what he does.

LonePirate · November 21

He has a couple of condescending lines that will alternate whenever you kill a mudcrab. Both are great and funny. He may surpass Sharp as my favorite companion.

SkaraMinoc · November 21

Zerith is a really good tank if you use a mix of Vigorous and Quickened trait.

whitecrow · November 22

I think I am going to have to subscribe again just to get this guy.