Companion NPCs are coming!

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO

Hey wait, will this turn every class into a pet class then?

.... AWESOME!!!!

MissAethe

I hope these companions will be useful in Dungeons, unfortunately for me I only have one friend who plays ESO and I'm not able to run any of the 4-man dungeons on my own (all the sets I need for my builds are in them, too, of course). If I and my friend were able to have a healer and extra DPS (I prefer running tank myself), it would make content I haven't been able to touch at the moment finally playable.

Maxx7410

MissAethe wrote: »

I hope these companions will be useful in Dungeons, unfortunately for me I only have one friend who plays ESO and I'm not able to run any of the 4-man dungeons on my own (all the sets I need for my builds are in them, too, of course). If I and my friend were able to have a healer and extra DPS (I prefer running tank myself), it would make content I haven't been able to touch at the moment finally playable.

I advice that you join some guilds then you can find people much faster

GarnetFire17

I want to be able to not see them from settings. this is ridiculous.

adriant1978

Maxx7410 wrote: »

MissAethe wrote: »

I hope these companions will be useful in Dungeons, unfortunately for me I only have one friend who plays ESO and I'm not able to run any of the 4-man dungeons on my own (all the sets I need for my builds are in them, too, of course). If I and my friend were able to have a healer and extra DPS (I prefer running tank myself), it would make content I haven't been able to touch at the moment finally playable.

I advice that you join some guilds then you can find people much faster

Not everyone can find a guild which suits their play style, ability level or personality. This might help such people see the story in normal dungeons at least.

Lugaldu

Maybe not only with respect to their play style, but people who does not want to join a guild or group at all (for different reasons).

Sandmanninja

OMG! I might be able to complete the Craglorn zone main quest! I've played since Early Access -5 days and when they opened up Craglorn, a skeever would one-shot you. Even now finding someone that is on the same exact (or just close enough so we can get in sync) place in the quest as yourself was almost impossible.

vibeborn

As someone who plays mostly alone, I'm excited to be able to have company while questing.

I am hoping tho that they won't be as annoying to manuever as the bear, and that you can dismiss them if you want to have some alone time

Chufu

As they mentioned that the companions can be used everywhere apart from solo-arenas or PvP, I guess we can just run dungeons now with 2 players and 2 companions? Sounds interesting to me.

Regarding questing though I think it might be too easy with a companion (easier than now hehe).

I am still a bit hesitating, because I don't know how the companions will work exactly and what can be done to improve them, but let's see.

It's a nice feature, but personally I was more hyped for a new class I must admit.

FrancisCrawford

It sounds as if they'll have to be unlocked separately for each character who uses them. That sounds a bit grindy. I haven't even done Daughter of Giants on all 18 of my characters, and for reasons of crafting I'm ALWAYS short on skill points.

Everstorm

Sandmanninja wrote: »

OMG! I might be able to complete the Craglorn zone main quest! I've played since Early Access -5 days and when they opened up Craglorn, a skeever would one-shot you. Even now finding someone that is on the same exact (or just close enough so we can get in sync) place in the quest as yourself was almost impossible.

Uhm, they revamped the Craglorn main quest like three years ago to make it soloable. It's as easy as any other quest content.

LadyAstrum

Gimme ma' companions!

Would be nice if we could customize their cosmetic look rather than them being pre-designed like the merchant/banker/houseguests.

I imagine they could make dungeon queuing shorter or non-existent depending on usage. For example, if my boyfriend and I can do a dungeon with one companion each I'd be happy. Would mean more time dungeoneering and less waiting for queue pops if we both want to go DPS.

I don't foresee me needing a companion for solo stuff, but you never know.

adriant1978

LadyAstrum wrote: »

Gimme ma' companions!

Would be nice if we could customize their cosmetic look rather than them being pre-designed like the merchant/banker/houseguests.

I think they said you can put gear on them, but I suspect their facial features will be fixed.

MissAethe

Maxx7410 wrote: »

MissAethe wrote: »

I hope these companions will be useful in Dungeons, unfortunately for me I only have one friend who plays ESO and I'm not able to run any of the 4-man dungeons on my own (all the sets I need for my builds are in them, too, of course). If I and my friend were able to have a healer and extra DPS (I prefer running tank myself), it would make content I haven't been able to touch at the moment finally playable.

I advice that you join some guilds then you can find people much faster

I have considered guilds, though the guild finder on Xbox (in my opinion) is more clunky than it is useful. Eventually I'll join a guild, but I don't want to join one as my only option to manage content. On top of that, a lot of the Xbox NA guilds that I've seen advertised don't usually have anyone online when I am so that's an issue. One day the right guild might pop up, but I want to be able to play as I am over sitting around hoping for the right one to show up.

orion_1981usub17_ESO

Towns will be lit up like Christmas trees if support sets like ebony worn by companions affect the player. If you get two companions you could stack four sets that buff you.

Danikat

I'll do the storylines of course.

If it will allow me to do dungeons solo without completely re-doing my build and equipment (I cannot currently solo them with my preferred setup) so I can go through taking all the time I want to explore, read, take screenshots etc. then they'll be useful, but I can't see myself using them the rest of the time.

shadrack83

Be interested in knowing if these companions will do anything else too!
Like pick up resource nodes for us while journeying through tamriel?

silvereyes

kapachia wrote: »

They should really limited this to overland stuff.

Dungeons and trials are already clogged up with pets and non-combat pets already.

We'll find out later what sort of limitations they have. I can't imagine that they will be allowed to expand the number of "players" past what content is designed for. For example, no 4 player + 4 companion dungeons. This is just a guess, but the fact that they disabled companions for solo arenas is a big hint.

I could see them being able to take the place of a missing player. For example, a 2 player + 2 companion dungeon, or a 6 player + 6 companion trial.

Correction: A previous version of this post mentioned that companions would be testable with Update 29 PTS, which is false. They will be coming with the Blackwood chapter, which will most likely have PTS testing starting in April or May.

adriant1978

silvereyes wrote: »

We'll find out later today on PTS what sort of limitations they have.

Companions won't be on the PTS today. They are part of the Blackwood Chapter; what we are getting on today's PTS is the first dungeon DLC of the new story and the CP revamp.

silvereyes

Man, I just realized that the Alik'r dolmen train and IC events at the Simalcrum of Molag Bal are going to be even more of an absolute train wreck. You'll be lucky to get in a hit, with 30 companion bots joining the fray.

silvereyes

adriant1978 wrote: »

silvereyes wrote: »

We'll find out later today on PTS what sort of limitations they have.

Companions won't be on the PTS today. They are part of the Blackwood Chapter; what we are getting on today's PTS is the first dungeon DLC of the new story and the CP revamp.

Thanks for the correction. My brain knew that, but somehow with all the hype, it started blending facts about Update 29 with the Blackwood Chapter reveal.

AyaDark

adriant1978 wrote: »

silvereyes wrote: »

We'll find out later today on PTS what sort of limitations they have.

Companions won't be on the PTS today. They are part of the Blackwood Chapter; what we are getting on today's PTS is the first dungeon DLC of the new story and the CP revamp.

Now I am not even interested in PTS thank you

Giraffon

I would much rather they open the character creation screen up and let us create our own companions but this is a start I suppose. I'm sure we all have our own preferences in how someone following us around appears.

I'm under the impression that you can put your own gear on them. If the gear is visible, instead of the companion always having the same appearance, that might be something that I could work with. Also if we can apply costumes or outfits to them.

From a utility perspective, I guess we'll have to see what they bring to the table. My expectations are pretty low at this point. I expect they will provide about as much utility as a summoned pet might offer (eg: bear=tank; flappy bird=heals; monkey thing=dps)

I could probably use them in Direfrost to stand on the 2nd platform. Beyond that, I guess I lack imagination today.

AyaDark

I hope all companions will be the same stats. But only different appierence.

1-2 for free, other sexy looking for money.

Tharonil

I have one wish:

If my character plays music, my companion needs to dance!

This is really important for me. Thank you!

Klad

adriant1978 wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

noneatza wrote: »

I really, really, really hope companions will be disabled in group content.

They said they will.

They did? I thought it was anywhere except solo arenas and PvP, but I didn't watch the whole of ESO Live after the main reveal. Did they specifically exclude dungeons?

You are correct they made it very clear in the live show that you can use companions anywhere except PVP and Trials

SeaGtGruff

Syldras wrote: »

noneatza wrote: »

I really, really, really hope companions will be disabled in group content.

They said they will.

I think it depends on what you mean by "group content." For instance, a lot of world bosses are very difficult for most players to solo, so does a world boss count as "group content"? Gina specifically mentioned not having to ask for help with a world boss. And there is other content that's intended to be tackled by two or more players without requiring them to be grouped.

SeaGtGruff

Everstorm wrote: »

Sandmanninja wrote: »

OMG! I might be able to complete the Craglorn zone main quest! I've played since Early Access -5 days and when they opened up Craglorn, a skeever would one-shot you. Even now finding someone that is on the same exact (or just close enough so we can get in sync) place in the quest as yourself was almost impossible.

Uhm, they revamped the Craglorn main quest like three years ago to make it soloable. It's as easy as any other quest content.

Except quest content varies in difficulty, and some quests can be difficult for players with low DPS to solo.

josiahva

Does this mean companions can be your buff-monkeys instead of tanks and healers?

silvereyes

josiahva wrote: »

Does this mean companions can be your buff-monkeys instead of tanks and healers?

No, I don't think so. From what I've gleaned from Rich's comments and the fact that companions are disallowed in solo arenas, companions will be a replacement for a player in group content, not an addition:
https://www.gamesradar.com/amp/elder-scrolls-online-gates-of-oblivion-is-a-lot-more-than-an-mmo-tes4/

ZOS_RichLambert wrote:

And so the beauty of this system and one of my hopes is, you know, you and a buddy could go and do four-player dungeons because you have two companions to help you out."

So you could try and bring companions into content like trials that greatly benefit from 12 player group buff sets like Ebon Armory, but they would be displacing a player that would ostensibly do a much better job of following mechanics and filling their assigned role. I guess I could see a role for them in normal trials to fill in if you are having trouble getting 12 people together.