Companions

LoadingBar5

Hello, I'm relatively new to this forum.
I was just curious about everyone's thoughts about having an Companion travel with the hero.

It's very unlikely they will add this because I think it's very hard to add something like that to a game that's already been out for a while.
But wouldn't it be awesome? Makes playing single a lot less lonely and it could help fight.

I just always loved having interactable companions. The pets from the Crown Store are fun but they don't add a lot.

What do you think?

dodgehopper_ESO

They're kind of releasing something like this (see the reward for finishing thieves guild story). Its a vendor companion of sorts, and they're going to put 2 more in the store some time in early April.

Thealteregoroman

I am guessing they will give us a fighting companion in the Dark Brotherhood DLC. You wont be able to take it into cyrodil........I really think this is gonna happen.

Loralai_907

Meh. Anytime you have to allow some npc to follow you around, they tend to be next to useless more often than not. But, if they were as entertaining as Darien, that might be ok lol.

LoadingBar5

I understand that they won't allow it in Cyrodil but I hope that they do add it in DB

phaneub17_ESO

I don't remember which dungeon it was, but one of them has a quest involved that also gives you a choice of a follower to tag along. You had the choice of a tank, a DPS, or a healer I think; I went for the healer which did pretty okay doing backup heals for the group. I would like something like that on a more permanent follower.

hrothbern

LoadingBar5 wrote: »

Hello, I'm relatively new to this forum.
I was just curious about everyone's thoughts about having an Companion travel with the hero.

It's very unlikely they will add this because I think it's very hard to add something like that to a game that's already been out for a while.
But wouldn't it be awesome? Makes playing single a lot less lonely and it could help fight.

I just always loved having interactable companions. The pets from the Crown Store are fun but they don't add a lot.

What do you think?

Nice suggestion @LoadingBar5 ,

Well, technically it is possible already.

There are some quests where you get help from one or more companions.
There are even quests where you can choose between a healer or damage dealer.

I would embrace if a companion would be possible,
especially because it would make possible to do challenging content like doing pledges solo with a companion.
(when a 4-group gets boring and really solo is too difficult)

But for sure there are many effects, wanted and unwanted, to giving us a companion outside a contained quest.

Let's hope the devs can tackle those and ZOS is also interested in such an expansion.

I did love my followers/companions/mercenaries in Skyrim

LoadingBar5

hrothbern wrote: »

LoadingBar5 wrote: »

Hello, I'm relatively new to this forum.
I was just curious about everyone's thoughts about having an Companion travel with the hero.

It's very unlikely they will add this because I think it's very hard to add something like that to a game that's already been out for a while.
But wouldn't it be awesome? Makes playing single a lot less lonely and it could help fight.

I just always loved having interactable companions. The pets from the Crown Store are fun but they don't add a lot.

What do you think?

Nice suggestion @LoadingBar5 ,

Well, technically it is possible already.

There are some quests where you get help from one or more companions.
There are even quests where you can choose between a healer or damage dealer.

I would embrace if a companion would be possible,
especially because it would make possible to do challenging content like doing pledges solo with a companion.
(when a 4-group gets boring and really solo is too difficult)

But for sure there are many effects, wanted and unwanted, to giving us a companion outside a contained quest.

Let's hope the devs can tackle those and ZOS is also interested in such an expansion.

I did love my followers/companions/mercenaries in Skyrim

Yes that's exactly what I mean

I also had a temporarily one, you choose from three classes, but they always left after the quest.
So to have a permanent companion with the option to assign a class, I would love that.
Kind of like the SWTOR companion options, which you can also choose between tank, dps or healer.

LoadingBar5

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

I don't remember which dungeon it was, but one of them has a quest involved that also gives you a choice of a follower to tag along. You had the choice of a tank, a DPS, or a healer I think; I went for the healer which did pretty okay doing backup heals for the group. I would like something like that on a more permanent follower.

Yes, that would be great. I'm more of a solo player (new to the pvp and stuff), so it would make exploring extra fun with a companion with commentary on the surroundings.

phaneub17_ESO

hrothbern wrote: »

LoadingBar5 wrote: »

Hello, I'm relatively new to this forum.
I was just curious about everyone's thoughts about having an Companion travel with the hero.

It's very unlikely they will add this because I think it's very hard to add something like that to a game that's already been out for a while.
But wouldn't it be awesome? Makes playing single a lot less lonely and it could help fight.

I just always loved having interactable companions. The pets from the Crown Store are fun but they don't add a lot.

What do you think?

Nice suggestion @LoadingBar5 ,

Well, technically it is possible already.

There are some quests where you get help from one or more companions.
There are even quests where you can choose between a healer or damage dealer.

I would embrace if a companion would be possible,
especially because it would make possible to do challenging content like doing pledges solo with a companion.
(when a 4-group gets boring and really solo is too difficult)

But for sure there are many effects, wanted and unwanted, to giving us a companion outside a contained quest.

Let's hope the devs can tackle those and ZOS is also interested in such an expansion.

I did love my followers/companions/mercenaries in Skyrim

I like to reiterate, I'm all for having a permanent follower around in the open world or going into public dungeons, but I don't think they should follow us into the group dungeons, trials, or PvP zones. Anything that is purely group content should just be the players unless the dungeon quest gives you a follower. Craglorn would be an exception as its more of an open world zone.

LoadingBar5

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

hrothbern wrote: »

LoadingBar5 wrote: »

Hello, I'm relatively new to this forum.
I was just curious about everyone's thoughts about having an Companion travel with the hero.

It's very unlikely they will add this because I think it's very hard to add something like that to a game that's already been out for a while.
But wouldn't it be awesome? Makes playing single a lot less lonely and it could help fight.

I just always loved having interactable companions. The pets from the Crown Store are fun but they don't add a lot.

What do you think?

Nice suggestion @LoadingBar5 ,

Well, technically it is possible already.

There are some quests where you get help from one or more companions.
There are even quests where you can choose between a healer or damage dealer.

I would embrace if a companion would be possible,
especially because it would make possible to do challenging content like doing pledges solo with a companion.
(when a 4-group gets boring and really solo is too difficult)

But for sure there are many effects, wanted and unwanted, to giving us a companion outside a contained quest.

Let's hope the devs can tackle those and ZOS is also interested in such an expansion.

I did love my followers/companions/mercenaries in Skyrim

I like to reiterate, I'm all for having a permanent follower around in the open world or going into public dungeons, but I don't think they should follow us into the group dungeons, trials, or PvP zones. Anything that is purely group content should just be the players unless the dungeon quest gives you a follower. Craglorn would be an exception as its more of an open world zone.

True, you're already working with other players so the need of a companion kinda goes away.
And it would be annoying to see everyone' s companion in a group or dungeon, so crowded. Will make the fps also worse haha.

dodgehopper_ESO

I think they need to reference Monty Python and have a Bard follow you around and sing amusing tunes.

LoadingBar5

dodgehopper_ESO wrote: »

I think they need to reference Monty Python and have a Bard follow you around and sing amusing tunes.

Hahahaha, probably would get the urge to kill him after hearing him or her sing for 3 straight hours xD

hrothbern

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

hrothbern wrote: »

LoadingBar5 wrote: »

Hello, I'm relatively new to this forum.
I was just curious about everyone's thoughts about having an Companion travel with the hero.

It's very unlikely they will add this because I think it's very hard to add something like that to a game that's already been out for a while.
But wouldn't it be awesome? Makes playing single a lot less lonely and it could help fight.

I just always loved having interactable companions. The pets from the Crown Store are fun but they don't add a lot.

What do you think?

Nice suggestion @LoadingBar5 ,

Well, technically it is possible already.

There are some quests where you get help from one or more companions.
There are even quests where you can choose between a healer or damage dealer.

I would embrace if a companion would be possible,
especially because it would make possible to do challenging content like doing pledges solo with a companion.
(when a 4-group gets boring and really solo is too difficult)

But for sure there are many effects, wanted and unwanted, to giving us a companion outside a contained quest.

Let's hope the devs can tackle those and ZOS is also interested in such an expansion.

I did love my followers/companions/mercenaries in Skyrim

I like to reiterate, I'm all for having a permanent follower around in the open world or going into public dungeons, but I don't think they should follow us into the group dungeons, trials, or PvP zones. Anything that is purely group content should just be the players unless the dungeon quest gives you a follower. Craglorn would be an exception as its more of an open world zone.

I like being able to group up with other players, whether it is just by chance at a world boss, or more formalised when doing a pledge.

However, there are many players that play much more solo than they really would like to do, because for private/social or other reasons they cannot commit 30 minutes to 2 hours for non-stop behind their computer.
You do a part of the quest... you steath hide in a corner... you go to the CP-tree screen to prevent being auto-logged out to soon.... you continue when you have time again.
A companion would make playing pledges much easier, fits better.

Ofc companions should not be possible in Cyrodiil or once you group up with any player.

LoadingBar5

hrothbern wrote: »

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

hrothbern wrote: »

LoadingBar5 wrote: »

Hello, I'm relatively new to this forum.
I was just curious about everyone's thoughts about having an Companion travel with the hero.

It's very unlikely they will add this because I think it's very hard to add something like that to a game that's already been out for a while.
But wouldn't it be awesome? Makes playing single a lot less lonely and it could help fight.

I just always loved having interactable companions. The pets from the Crown Store are fun but they don't add a lot.

What do you think?

Nice suggestion @LoadingBar5 ,

Well, technically it is possible already.

There are some quests where you get help from one or more companions.
There are even quests where you can choose between a healer or damage dealer.

I would embrace if a companion would be possible,
especially because it would make possible to do challenging content like doing pledges solo with a companion.
(when a 4-group gets boring and really solo is too difficult)

But for sure there are many effects, wanted and unwanted, to giving us a companion outside a contained quest.

Let's hope the devs can tackle those and ZOS is also interested in such an expansion.

I did love my followers/companions/mercenaries in Skyrim

I like to reiterate, I'm all for having a permanent follower around in the open world or going into public dungeons, but I don't think they should follow us into the group dungeons, trials, or PvP zones. Anything that is purely group content should just be the players unless the dungeon quest gives you a follower. Craglorn would be an exception as its more of an open world zone.

I like being able to group up with other players, whether it is just by chance at a world boss, or more formalised when doing a pledge.

However, there are many players that play much more solo than they really would do because for private/social or other reasons they cannot commit 30 minutes to 2 hours for non-stop behind their computer.
You do a part of the quest... you steath hide in a corner... you go to the CP-tree screen to prevent being auto-logged out to soon.... you continue when you have time again.
A companion would make playing pledges much easier, fits better.

Ofc companions should not be possible in Cyrodiil or once you group up with any player.

Fully agree with you

KhajiitiLizard

dodgehopper_ESO wrote: »

I think they need to reference Monty Python and have a Bard follow you around and sing amusing tunes.

A guy with coconuts as a mount. The coconuts slamming together gives you a speed buff that makes you as a fast as a real mount.

ContraTempo

This is one thing I miss about Skyrim. It was nice to have the illusion of companionship. It also gave you someone else to worry about in combat, with the need to keep them alive too. Given the nature of this game I could see this in the form of having to use gems to resurrect them, having to share potions and food, craft armor for them. In these ways we would be trading some suck of these items for role playing. Of course, most ESO PVE content is balanced for a single player so if out companion was actually a capable fighter I assume that would scale to maintain the balance.

What ZoS won't give us is a fighting companion who just makes everything easier. Nor should they. Heck, most of the quests are easy enough now that I rarely die even when I screw up a little. So if the reason to want this is to make content easier, that's not going to happen.

I also have my doubts about bringing a companion when doing group content. Right now if you have a couple of mages in the group who each have two pets up things get confusing (and sometimes laggy) when you hit a large mob. Now imagine adding 4 more fighters to that mix.

All things considered maybe it's better that we screw up our courage, put our social anxiety aside, and make friends with other human players. Isn't that why we play ESO instead of Skyrim?

NewBlacksmurf

LoadingBar5 wrote: »

Hello, I'm relatively new to this forum.
I was just curious about everyone's thoughts about having an Companion travel with the hero.

It's very unlikely they will add this because I think it's very hard to add something like that to a game that's already been out for a while.
But wouldn't it be awesome? Makes playing single a lot less lonely and it could help fight.

I just always loved having interactable companions. The pets from the Crown Store are fun but they don't add a lot.

What do you think?

There use to be mercenaries in Cyrodil for a very short time. I'd say the same reason those went away would be the reason we won't see them....AND that the game is suppose to create situations to suggest us to partner with other real players.

Xendyn

Only if they get in our way, block doors constantly and complain about carrying our burdens.

Volkodav

dodgehopper_ESO wrote: »

They're kind of releasing something like this (see the reward for finishing thieves guild story). Its a vendor companion of sorts, and they're going to put 2 more in the store some time in early April.

Yeah,but the portable fence you win from the Thieve's Guild,she might follow you,but she is waaay behind and always crouched in hidden mode.I wish she just walked.I'd let her stay.

Gidorick

This was my suggestion for this very thing back in Jan 2015...

Gidorick wrote: »

Within ESO, there already exists the mechanic for an NPC to follow and fight alongside the player. There also exist quests where the player is able to choose the type of companion that follows them. Using these already established systems, ZOS should allow players to hire Mercenaries and have NPC characters tag along with them on their missions. Expanding the functionality to include different types of Mercenaries could offer a robust mechanic for groups and single players alike.

Who Will You Hire?

Player’s, starting at level 10, should be given the option to hire Companion Mercs to accompany them on their adventures. This accompaniment should extend to all areas of play. They should also fill group slots, fulfilling the grouping requirement for dungeons.

The better the Companion Merc a player would like to hire, the more expensive they will be. The Merc would ideally be leveled to the player, which would make the most sense within the mechanics of the game. Level 10 Mercs could start 50 gold per hour and increase per level to a level 50 Merc that costs around 1,000 gold per hour.

An alternative hiring mechanic could have players hire their Merc for specific quest or dungeon they need assistance with. After the Merc is hired the NPC companion could meet the player there.

Being designed by ZOS, Companion Mercs could have interesting personalities and conversation trees to give them to continue their employment or to dismiss them. ZOS could also create a random Companion generator that created the Companion Merc on the fly as the player requested them. Both have benefits and I don’t think either is one necessarily better than the other.

Basic Interaction:

The player shouldn’t have the ability to outfit the Companion Merc. They also shouldn’t be able to access the Merc’s inventory. If the Merc is the type that gathers items for the player, the player should have the option to take the gathered items, but it should be a one way transaction. There shouldn’t be any circumstance in which the player needs to give the Companion Mercenary any items.

When a player speaks with a Companion Merc they should be given the option to dismiss the Companion, chat with the Companion, and take the items they’ve collected (if applicable).

Casually conversing with a Merc could allow the player to learn more about the character and could even possibly open a quest line that would be specific to that Mercenary.

When a Companion’s time is up, that Merc stops where they are and should not move any further, should not take part in any combat, and should ignored by enemies. Perhaps they cycle through some passive emote such as /juggleflame, /read, or /eatbread. The player will have to speak with the Merc to re-hire them for another hour or so. When hiring Companion Mercs from the Merchants or extending the hiring period in the field, players should have the option of hiring them in 1 hour increments for up to 5 hours at a time. If a player leaves an expired Merc behind, the Merc disappears and the player must visit the appropriate Merchant to hire another.

Archetype Companions:

Initially these hirable Companions Mercs would include the three archetypes.

• TANK: NPC that run toward the fray and will pull the aggression of the mobs
• HEALER: NPC that will cast protection and restoration spells on the player
• DPS: NPC that will deal quick, consistent damage on the target

These Archetype Companions could be hirable from the two main Guilds that exist within ESO, the Fighters Guild and the Mages Guild. Once the player selects the specific Merc type they wish to hire they could be given a random Merc from a small pool of ZOS designed faction appropriate Archetype Companions. In this way a Redguard would never end up with an Argonian Companion.

This would be a great place to either start or stop the concept. Let’s go a bit further into some expanded ideas…

Narrative Companions:

Certain NPCs that aren’t killed off in the story could be available as Narrative Companions. It would have been awesome to have Lyris Titanborn continue to run around with me for a time as I went on quests throughout Tamriel. These Narrative Companions could function much in the same way as the Archetype Companions, with their usefulness being specific to combat.

The pricing structure could be the same as Archetype Companions or it could vary by the Character. Perhaps some Narrative Characters will join you for free but only for a limited amount of time. Perhaps some are only available an hour at a time and ask for a larger amount of gold for each subsequent hour. The Hiring circumstances could be as varied as their personalities.

Skilled Companions:

In addition to the Archetype Companions and Narrative Companions, ZOS could offer a myriad of other types of Skilled Companions:

Skilled Companions could cost less and be with the player for longer durations than the Archetype and Narrative Companions. They could still help out in combat, but they shouldn’t be nearly as effective as a similarly leveled Archetype Companion.

Types of Skilled Companions:

• HERBALIST: Will gather reagents if within a radius depending on their level
• TILLER: Will gather clothier raw materials within a radius depending on their level
• PROSPECTOR: Will gather ore within a radius depending on their level
• DIVINER: Will gather runes within a radius depending on their level
• CULINARIAN: Will gather provisions within a radius depending on their level
• LOGGER: Will gather wood within a radius depending on their level
• SCHOLAR: NPCs that gathers books within a radius depending on their level
• SQUIRE: Will gather items from dead mobs
• BARD: Will play a selection of songs while you adventure
• LOCKSMITH: A master lockpick that will open chests for you

These Skilled Companions should be leveled to the character for combat purposes and their respective skill in their profession should be comparable to their overall level. All Skilled Companions that gather items would have an additional option when they are spoken to which would allow the player to accept the items the Skilled Companion has gathered.

To gather the material, the Skilled Companion need not actually go through the animation to gather the material. Having this requirement would pretty much defeat the purpose of these Companions. As the player runs around the world the Skilled Companion’s inventory would simply fill up with the items as they are passed. Material taken by a Skilled Companion should have ½ the yield of normal material farming. Additionally, using a Skilled Companion shouldn’t cause the item to become unavailable for other players, unlike player farming.

Hiring these Skilled Companions could be accomplished through various means throughout Tamriel. From the Companion being an NPC around the city to finding them in the bar to hiring them through Merchants. Unlike the Archetype Companions, there shouldn’t be a specific go-to location to pick them up and should be an exception rather than a rule.

Alternate Companions:

The Alternate characters that a player has created and leveled could also be able to be brought over into a player’s story to assist them in their questing.

I’d imagine this could be accomplished by having a Mercenary Merchant in each city. When approached, the Mercenary Merchant would give the player a list of their Alternate Characters and the player could import that character into their story. If a player has no Alternates, the Mercenary Merchant will have no one available.

The prices of the Alternates should be a bit more expensive than hiring a generic Archetype, but not by much. The Alternate’s should have the equipment and skills that they have at the time of rental and not be leveled to the player. Just as all other Companion types, the player should not have access to the Alternate’s inventory. Additionally, the Alternates should gain no XP or use any items from their actual inventory while questing. For all intents and purposes the hiring would pretty much be “cosmetic”.

Additional Notes:

As stated before, these hirable NPC Companion Mercenaries should occupy group slots and if multiple are hired (up to 3) a player would be able to run 4 player dungeons by themselves. Using these NPC Companion Mercs, a pair of players could group up and the leader could hire a Companion Merc or two to flesh out their group. When in a group, only the leader should be able to speak with,hire,dismiss and accept items from the Companion Mercs.

Companions should NEVER be allowed in Cyrodiil. If there needs to be lore reasons for this it could be as simple as the Mercs don’t take sides in the faction war… or something to that effect.

Companions SHOULD be allowed in 12 person trials but it should be blatantly obvious that a group has NPC Companion Mercs in it. Even to the point of coloring their life-bar a different color in their group. There should also be an option to disallow NPC Companion Mercs when setting up the groups. The option to have the NPC Companions would give a group of three players the option to try to run a trial with 9 NPC Companion Mercs (at the rate of 9K or more an hour). Their survivability might be low, but I think the option should be there for these players to give it a go if they so desire. Running through with a group of NPCs could be used as a way to have trial runs. Although it’s unlikely a group with a bunch of AI controlled NPCS would ever do well enough to be posted on the leaderboards, groups that have NPC Companions should be ineligible for leaderboard ranking. No matter how well they do.

And again, it should be crystal clear when an NPC Companion Merc is in a group and organizers need the option to automatically ignore groups with NPC Companions.

The main reason I am suggesting this is because finding a group, especially when lower than level 50, in ESO is an absolute chore. Players are on different quest lines, leveled dungeons makes it frustrating to try to find players ‘around your level’ who need to run through this dungeon or fight that area Boss.

Players that choose to use NPC Companion Mercenaries will be at a disadvantage when compared to those that group with other players or are playing solo. They will be spending a considerable amount of gold to hire these NPC and will level more slowly than if they go at it alone.

In the end, hiring NPC Companions will accomplish 2 things in ESO

• 1: It will provide some relief from the broken LFG system and empower players to PLAY the game instead of spending their time trying to find other players that just happen to be at the exact same point of progression and story.
• 2: It would be another gold-sink mechanic for ESO, something all MMO’s need.

Although I know this idea isn’t popular with many of those on this forum. I really think it is a tool that is needed in ESO. I have just outright skipped content because I can’t find anyone in the vicinity that needs to run a dungeon or would like to take down an anchor. I figure I’ll come back to it when I hit VR ranks but I sure would have liked the option to throw down 500 gold and hire an NPC Companion Merc to heal me for an hour.

Crown Shop:

The game could give us a small selection of mercenaries we can hire but ALSO offer the ability to buy "contracts" in the crown shop to have the capability to hire specific NPC Mercs in game. Have the contacts be a one time use item that will ALLOW us to hire that specific NPC using the mechanics as described.

Example: 750C for the ability to hire an Draugr warrior. When we go to the NPC hiring board, the Draugr would be a hirable option from then onward.

Thoughts?

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/146133/hirable-npc-companion-concept/p1

Not even a recognition from ZOS that we want this feature...

khele23eb17_ESO

Theyd have to buff the difficulty of content throughout the whole game for this change.

Cadbury

Nice. I could always use another pack mu - er I mean friend.

Fischblut

I would love to have PvE companions which game gives us in the quest "Bosmer insight" - all of them (but only one companion at a time, of course)

Gidorick

khele23eb17_ESO wrote: »

Theyd have to buff the difficulty of content throughout the whole game for this change.

Why would they?

Preyfar

I hope that, at least with housing, we'll have the ability to have NPCs in our homes AND dress them up accordingly (utilizing both crafted items and perhaps purchased costumes/outfits). One of my favorite parts of Diablo 2 was the NPCs that tagged along that you could customize. Mostly useless, but fun to have around.

dodgehopper_ESO

ContraTempo wrote: »

This is one thing I miss about Skyrim. It was nice to have the illusion of companionship. It also gave you someone else to worry about in combat, with the need to keep them alive too. Given the nature of this game I could see this in the form of having to use gems to resurrect them, having to share potions and food, craft armor for them. In these ways we would be trading some suck of these items for role playing. Of course, most ESO PVE content is balanced for a single player so if out companion was actually a capable fighter I assume that would scale to maintain the balance.

What ZoS won't give us is a fighting companion who just makes everything easier. Nor should they. Heck, most of the quests are easy enough now that I rarely die even when I screw up a little. So if the reason to want this is to make content easier, that's not going to happen.

I also have my doubts about bringing a companion when doing group content. Right now if you have a couple of mages in the group who each have two pets up things get confusing (and sometimes laggy) when you hit a large mob. Now imagine adding 4 more fighters to that mix.

All things considered maybe it's better that we screw up our courage, put our social anxiety aside, and make friends with other human players. Isn't that why we play ESO instead of Skyrim?

This is a fun element in SWTOR and in games like Skyrim. On the other hand even in games like Skyrim/Fallout I found that most of the time I just wanted to strike out on my own. There is something to be said for being the 'lonely hero'. The world just feels bigger when you don't have companions with you all of the time. When playing Skyrim I usually only brought out a companion when I knew for certain I needed a lackey to help haul my junk. In this way you end up feeling like Hercules in the story, and the companion is just another mere mortal helping you out. Its more fun that way I think. All of that being said I think some of the comments that npc companions make as you move through various areas add to the entertaining nature of the game. When it comes to balancing for 2 characters or 1, I'd rather the game balanced off of one, just so I could occassionally feel like the lone hero in story content. They could make the Companion weaker than the Vestige, such that it wouldn't ruin gameplay for playing the solitary way (and perhaps bringing out such a companion would give you less exp, but afford you extra bagspace? That's something I could get on top of).

goatlyonesub17_ESO

I just want a

• DONKEY: Will hold 60 - 140 items for the player, depending on their level. Can swap items with the player.