What is generally the best role for a companion?

Legate_Lanius · May 16

So far for outdoor/exploration content, my main issue has been world bosses. In vanilla maps they are more or less manageable depending on the foe but my tank companion (mainly green tanking gear with some blue) doesn't last very long in real fight situations. Mirri, manages to resist for a bit but gets burned down quite fast.

So I was wondering if, as DD main, I shouldn't go with another role? I have no idea what is the general consensus for companions. Some are better suited for tanking, healing or damage but they are more or less the same.

Ilsabet · May 16

I like having a tank to keep the boss' attention off of me so I can focus on spamming my buttons executing my flawless rotation. It does help a lot to have a heal on your bar that can target a companion, since you usually can't rely on their own self-heals to carry them. On my nightblade main I picked up Healthy Offering for that reason, and that works well enough to keep Zerith alive while also being useful for myself in place of (selfish) Vigor.

Otherwise I typically use a healer since having some extra heals tossed my way can be helpful, and the resto staff barrier skill has come in clutch more than once.

El_Borracho · May 16

Talkative nuisance

Zodiarkslayer · May 16

El_Borracho wrote: »

Talkative nuisance

Boooo! Companions are great. One just needs to adjust them to ones own playstyle.

It all depends on your character's build. If you are a ranged DD or melee, if you are tanky or a glas cannon. And of course what class you are and what abilities you use.
As a rule of thumb you want a companion tank with ranged or feeble DDs and a companion healer with tanky melee DDs.

I would generally not recommend using companions as DDs, because they cannot make a real rotation. After they've burned through their 5 abilities, they will just light attack. That's it.
If you maximise the cooldown reduction, you can improve that drastically, but at the cost of also drastically altering your own character's build. That trade off is usually not worth it.

Credible_Joe · May 16

Whatever role is needed at the time.

I have single target DPS (Mirri w/ bow), AOE DPS (Tan & Sharp with dual wield), and tanks (Azandar, Isobelle).

If I'm fighting through lots of chaff (IA, Bastion Nymic), I bring Tan or Sharp. If I can solo a boss, I take Mirri for the extra DPS. If I NEED a boss to be taunted, I bring out Azandar or Isobelle.

I have yet to kit a healer, but they would probably be equally helpful as tanks for solo content. They could also probably stand in very well for a missing healer in normal dungeons, or even base game vet dungeons. Even more so if everyone has some good self heals, or a solo-PVE build to fall back on.

For your tanking troubles, the issue might be with slotted skills, and not necessarily gear. You'll want quickened for the CDR. Both of my tanks have at least two damage shields they can cast on themselves, as well as self and group heals. Both of them are almost immortal in 80% of content I bring them to.

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

Talkative nuisance

I would generally not recommend using companions as DDs, because they cannot make a real rotation. After they've burned through their 5 abilities, they will just light attack. That's it.
If you maximise the cooldown reduction, you can improve that drastically, but at the cost of also drastically altering your own character's build. That trade off is usually not worth it.

Companion DDs won't ever hit numbers close to players, but if you think of their damage in terms of being additive to your own, a geared up companion is effectively a free 5 piece gear set that fires automatically. It's hard to parse their numbers since the only dummies available to them are in the Scholarium, but it's not insignificant and can make a LOT of content much quicker for solo PVE sustain builds (bruisers).

Erickson9610 · May 16

Like others have said, it's best to have Companions geared for any situation.

I have Sharp-as-Night as a healer, Zerith-var as a tank, Tanlorin as a single target damage dealer, and Ember as an area of effect damage dealer.

I usually use a healer Companion in most content because I am capable of following mechanics, and sometimes I just need a little more help with survivability. The downside of using a tank Companion as a damage dealer is that you have to supply your own healing if the Companion's self healing isn't enough.

AcadianPaladin · May 16

I run Mirri as a tank. What I like about Mirri for tanking is that I can put her in full heavy armor since she has a class 'disappear and heal' ability. Other companions have to slot 5 pieces of medium to use the medium armor similar skill, Vanish.

If she gets in too much trouble or I miss some heals for her, she disappears and heals. The boss can't see her so stops damaging her but by the time the boss can really turn and focus on me, Mirri's healed, back in the fight and taunts him again.

That's the tank's backup ability though. Her primary healing comes from me. I keep a HoT on her all the time and have a burst at the ready if needed. As a healer-focused character, this is not an excessive price for me. I can deliver solid heals and moderate damage while my tank companion keeps the boss off me so my damage is smooth and uninterrupted.

This works wonderfully for me vs WBs or running dungeons as either solo or duo.

TLDR: Since healing others is second nature, a tank companion works best for me.

tsaescishoeshiner · May 16

For me, what matters is that they:

Don't die
Provide a benefit to me

The best for this is a heavy armor healer. Their damage output doesn't scale very high, but their healing is more than enough sustained healing to make a noticeable difference in a world boss fight. In particular, Mystic Fortress and heals-over-time really let you spend a bit less time healing and more time dealing damage, all while providing them the self-heals they need to not die.

Some people use them as DPS, but I believe that having them as a healer increases your overall DPS more, because you don't need to heal as much. Obviously, depends on if you're a dps, healer, or tank, and what you're fighting, but I find this to be true in most cases.

Legate_Lanius · May 16

Ilsabet wrote: »

It does help a lot to have a heal on your bar that can target a companion, since you usually can't rely on their own self-heals to carry them.

I've not played ESO for years but before reseting my skills I do remember now to defeat one world boss, I had Sharp as tank and was using my healing skill on him to prevent him from dying. Made the whole thing slower but it did slowburned the boss.

Cooperharley · May 16

I usually allow them to roleplay as carpets, which is all theyre good at in anything meaningful :P

Soarora · May 16

I go for healer with them. It’s nice getting some extra healing so I can use those GCDs for other things.

Stx · May 19

I used to use my companion as a healer as I knew that even min maxed their dps isn’t very good. However, it got to be too annoying that bosses and mobs would always chase after my companion since they usually were at range. Sometimes world bosses would even reset because my companion would dodge backwards.

I found that I really liked building my companion as a tank since it holds aggro well and usually if they’re about to die I have something on my bars I can heal them with. They keep mobs in good position. My favorite atm is Isobel with sword and shield.

ADarklore · May 21

I have Mirri as my only healer- and I rarely use her since she loves to roll away and reset enemies.

I have Azandar as my main tank for world and soloing group dungeons.

The rest I have as DPS since open world content I don't worry about drawing aggro. Sharp is my main... I was using Zerith-var for awhile until we went to the Hollow City and he gave me a -5 and told me we shouldn't rescue the city because it would anger Molag Bal. I dropped him right there as my main companion- I won't have an 'appeaser' especially of Molag Bal close to me.

Nestor · May 21

I have one Tank and the rest are healers.

Have to kit the tanks in Heavy and Damage Reduction or you need to pay more attention to healing them.

Healers seem to help me the most, so most of my companions are set up that way.

Zodiarkslayer · May 21

Actually it's better to equip heavy armor with cooldown reduction. Some companions have a way to get full uptime of 40% damage reduction this way (I think all, but am not sure). Much better than the meager numbers you get from bolstered.
The key is to understand how their ability system works. Colldown reduction is almost always the best choice.

Legate_Lanius · May 24

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Actually it's better to equip heavy armor with cooldown reduction. Some companions have a way to get full uptime of 40% damage reduction this way (I think all, but am not sure). Much better than the meager numbers you get from bolstered.
The key is to understand how their ability system works. Colldown reduction is almost always the best choice.

mmh I'll try to think about that, thanks !

I'm even wondering if I shouldn't play the game as a tank like I used to in FFXIV but players are in such a hurry in dungeons etc. that I don't think I'll have the same chill learning curve.

Necrotech_Master · May 24

i tend to mostly use tanks or healers companions, though i also have dps companions for pairing with my lower dps characters

when built properly tank companions can survive fairly well, but all companions are susceptible to simple problems such as boss mechanics when doing certain dungeons or WBs

BretonMage · May 25

My companions are usually just a mix of hybrid tank/healer/DPS support. They're almost always in heavy armor because I try to keep their roll dodges to a minimum (I really hate it when bosses sprint off to chase after my companions), and also to keep them well-protected.

I slot skills that are most effective per companion, but generally prioritise shields and/or heals, because let's face it, they're useless when dead. I often use either the tank setup with Provoke and On Guard, or the resto staff with Mystic Fortress. One thing I've noticed is that skills with long cast times are not recommended for companions as it leaves them vulnerable.

My favourite companion setups are Azandar as tank or healer, Sharp as healer or Zerith as healer/DPS hybrid.

Calastir · May 25

Isobel. Shield Saint tank build. Best build. No competition.

https://hacktheminotaur.com/eso-companion-builds/shield-saint/

Cooperharley · May 25

I've found that all companions are best role playing as a carpet.

Sharp is a great fishing buddy. The rest are used to get their associated achievements and then never seen again. But if I had to pick one, i'd say tank. DPS is incredibly low (maxes out at 12K I believe, IF THAT). Healing is so-so. Tanking is fine when they hold aggro, but I'll forever be asking for giving companions an AOE taunt at the very least since ZOS is so vehemently against it with players. It'd make them so much more enjoyable.

Legate_Lanius · May 30

Calastir wrote: »

Isobel. Shield Saint tank build. Best build. No competition.

https://hacktheminotaur.com/eso-companion-builds/shield-saint/

Yea but she's ugly as sin with no eyebrows. Fashion > efficiency

Zodiarkslayer · May 30

Legate_Lanius wrote: »

Yea but she's ugly as sin with no eyebrows. Fashion > efficiency

And that's the true reason why players are calling for a helmet option for companions. 😅

Calastir wrote: »

Isobel. Shield Saint tank build. Best build. No competition.

https://hacktheminotaur.com/eso-companion-builds/shield-saint/

Nah. You can make pretty much the same build with all companions, too.

Don't put that build on such a high pedestal! It still has the immanent flaw of putting the burst heal on slot n°5, which gives it the lowest priority and not the highest. 🤦‍♂️ It is quite stupid, if you think about it, because instead of healing themselves the companion will rather taunt the enemy again.

Calastir · May 30

Legate_Lanius wrote: »

Calastir wrote: »

Isobel. Shield Saint tank build. Best build. No competition.

https://hacktheminotaur.com/eso-companion-builds/shield-saint/

Yea but she's ugly as sin with no eyebrows. Fashion > efficiency

If that really bothers you, Zerith-var is a good second.
https://hacktheminotaur.com/eso-companion-builds/zerith-var-tank-build/

But I value Isobel's combat skills higher. She excels in any role.
https://arzyelbuilds.com/eso-best-companion-guide/#companions

Calastir · May 30

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Legate_Lanius wrote: »

Yea but she's ugly as sin with no eyebrows. Fashion > efficiency

And that's the true reason why players are calling for a helmet option for companions. 😅

Calastir wrote: »

Isobel. Shield Saint tank build. Best build. No competition.

https://hacktheminotaur.com/eso-companion-builds/shield-saint/

Nah. You can make pretty much the same build with all companions, too.

Don't put that build on such a high pedestal! It still has the immanent flaw of putting the burst heal on slot n°5, which gives it the lowest priority and not the highest. 🤦‍♂️ It is quite stupid, if you think about it, because instead of healing themselves the companion will rather taunt the enemy again.

That burst heal only kicks in at 75% health. The Solar Ward & Holy Ground & On Guard skills should take care of any incoming damage before that.

ADarklore · May 30

I think one of the biggest reasons I don't really use any companions as healers, is because they have this tendency of rolling away causing enemies to reset. Same with pretty much any ranged DPS as well. I have Ember with a frost staff so she doesn't roll away from enemies... but any other staff... and there is the risk of resetting enemies. I think they need to update the companion AI so that they roll TOWARDS the player- not backwards away from the enemies.

I have both Zerith-var and Azandar as tanks- still trying to figure out who is the best tank between them. I like that Zerith-var has major breach- which means I don't have to equip a skill with it- but Azandar has great utility shields and healing. Throw on Telvanni Efficiency gear for soloing group dungeons or world bosses, and they never die.

Credible_Joe · May 30

ADarklore wrote: »

I think one of the biggest reasons I don't really use any companions as healers, is because they have this tendency of rolling away causing enemies to reset. Same with pretty much any ranged DPS as well. I have Ember with a frost staff so she doesn't roll away from enemies... but any other staff... and there is the risk of resetting enemies. I think they need to update the companion AI so that they roll TOWARDS the player- not backwards away from the enemies.

I have both Zerith-var and Azandar as tanks- still trying to figure out who is the best tank between them. I like that Zerith-var has major breach- which means I don't have to equip a skill with it- but Azandar has great utility shields and healing. Throw on Telvanni Efficiency gear for soloing group dungeons or world bosses, and they never die.

Adjusting companion dodge roll logic to always roll towards the player sounds like a great adjustment. Not quite a solution to their damage avoidance issues, but definitely alleviates the fight reset problem. Not to mention it helps group up scattered enemies.

Zodiarkslayer · May 30

Calastir wrote: »

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Legate_Lanius wrote: »

Yea but she's ugly as sin with no eyebrows. Fashion > efficiency

And that's the true reason why players are calling for a helmet option for companions. 😅

Calastir wrote: »

Isobel. Shield Saint tank build. Best build. No competition.

https://hacktheminotaur.com/eso-companion-builds/shield-saint/

Nah. You can make pretty much the same build with all companions, too.

Don't put that build on such a high pedestal! It still has the immanent flaw of putting the burst heal on slot n°5, which gives it the lowest priority and not the highest. 🤦‍♂️ It is quite stupid, if you think about it, because instead of healing themselves the companion will rather taunt the enemy again.

That burst heal only kicks in at 75% health. The Solar Ward & Holy Ground & On Guard skills should take care of any incoming damage before that.

That's the thing, it doesn't heal when she falls under 75%. As long as any one of the other skills is off cooldown Isobel will prioritize casting the skills with higher priority, until no other skill off cooldown and the Ultimate cannot be cast.

And again the question: Why would an emergency heal have the lowest priority of all skills?

LootAllTheStuff · May 30

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Calastir wrote: »

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Legate_Lanius wrote: »

Yea but she's ugly as sin with no eyebrows. Fashion > efficiency

And that's the true reason why players are calling for a helmet option for companions. 😅

Calastir wrote: »

Isobel. Shield Saint tank build. Best build. No competition.

https://hacktheminotaur.com/eso-companion-builds/shield-saint/

Nah. You can make pretty much the same build with all companions, too.

Don't put that build on such a high pedestal! It still has the immanent flaw of putting the burst heal on slot n°5, which gives it the lowest priority and not the highest. 🤦‍♂️ It is quite stupid, if you think about it, because instead of healing themselves the companion will rather taunt the enemy again.

That burst heal only kicks in at 75% health. The Solar Ward & Holy Ground & On Guard skills should take care of any incoming damage before that.

That's the thing, it doesn't heal when she falls under 75%. As long as any one of the other skills is off cooldown Isobel will prioritize casting the skills with higher priority, until no other skill off cooldown and the Ultimate cannot be cast.

And again the question: Why would an emergency heal have the lowest priority of all skills?

That struck me as odd, too. I've moved the emergency heal to 1st slot on all my companions, and their survivability is much improved. Most of the time, it gets passed over in favour of an attack. But, when they really need to use it, it fires. That doesn't guarantee they won't die, especially if I lost track of them and they're stuck in a dense mob. But generally, it seems to work well.

ADarklore · May 31

So I ran a tank comparison yesterday between Zerith-var and Azandar against AD alliance zone world bosses. I had Zerith in 7 pc Heavy Vigorous with Quickened Weapons and Jewelry and Azandar in 7 pc Heavy Bolstered with Quickened Weapons and Jewelry. They both handled all the world bosses, except Thodundor in Greenshade. Zerith died very quickly against him, and I soon followed... whereas Azandar handled him without a problem. I was not wearing the Telvanni set and my main is a Templar... just an FYI.

The problem with Zerith is, he has no good burst heals or shields other than from the 1H/Shield line. The reason I wanted him as a tank is because of his ability to do Major Breach- but if he's dead- I have no source of Major Breach anyway.

I then brought out Mirri, my healer, and thought I'd do a run with a healer against Thodundor instead of a tank. I will say I had an even easier time with Mirri than even Azandar. Even though Thodundor was focused on me the entire time, any time he brought my health down to 30% (which was often) Mirri healed me back to full instantly.

I've since decided to switch Isobel to healer instead of Mirri. With subclassing coming out Monday and needing to re-level class lines, it'll be a good chance to level her Resto staff skill line up as well as the Light armor line. With Mirri, I had her in 7pc Light Soothing, Resto Soothing, and jewelry Quickened. However, with Isobel, I'm going 7pc Light Quickened, with all Quickened Resto and jewelry. I may opt to switch to Soothing Light armor, but dropping the Quickened Resto for Soothing Resto adds about 1.5/s back to her cooldowns- which for a healer is not acceptable IMO.

Speaking of... in my decision to switch Isobel to healer, I did some searching online for builds. I about fell over when I saw the build for Isobel by a certain popular streamer... it was HORRIBLE (and no, it wasn't HTM). I mean, seriously... sometimes I don't think these streamers actually use the builds they put out and instead just throw something together and post it. First off, this streamer said to use ALL Soothing gear- armor, jewelry and weapon- which now puts many of her healing skills over 10/s cooldown. Next, they say to run Mages Guild skill Parallel which increases Ultimate gain... on her 3.8/s cast time Ultimate that does NOTHING for healing and does very little damage overall. But that's not all, so not only are they replacing a healing skill with a skill for gaining Ultimate for her to spend 3.8/s standing still for absolutely NO healing benefit whatsoever... they also don't even have ANY of her Templar healing skills slotted. When I see builds like this, it makes me completely dismiss any builds the creator has made because it shows a completely lack of effort or understanding of what they are even trying to achieve. A healer companion should be HEALING, not frequently standing still for 3.8/s.

It's like when players say that companions are useless or that they die quickly. 9x out of 10 when they say this, it's because they haven't devoted ANY time to developing them. For a companion to survive they NEED TO BE level 20 for max health, they also need the proper armor, jewelry, weapons and skills... proper gear meaning blue quality or better. For open world, they can pretty much do most things naked, but for dungeons and world bosses, they absolutely need to be properly leveled, geared and equipped with proper skills... which means also leveling their weapons and gear to 20. Yes, it's a long term investment... which the complaining players usually haven't done, yet expect a miraculous result with no effort.

SilverBride · May 31

I use a tank almost exclusively when I use a companion and a damage dealer a very small percentage of the time. I don't have any healer companions.

Hotdog_23 · June 1

Isobel is my tank and out 95% of the time and she rarely dies. Generally, when she does it is to mechs of some bosses to where the AI will not move her out of stupid and she dies. On those boss fight I pull out Azandar who is my healer. Now he will die sometimes to the same reason as Isobel in those same fights, but he lasts longer and is of more benefit to me. The rest are maxed out and retired. Both are in heavy armor even Azandar, a dead companion is of no use and generally not worth resing.

Stay safe