PTS Update 30 - Feedback Thread for Companions

Linaleah

Which areas or zones were you in with your companion?

Blackwood only

What types of gameplay were you doing with your companion?

questing (side quests only, no main story - keeping that for release of the chapter), running through delves and public dungeons, antiquities, exploration

Interaction
Was it clear how to access the Companions interface?

not at all, I kinda figured out by trying different things until I found it. I'm still not entirely sure if talking to them is the only way to bring up their interface or if there is a hotkey.

Was the Companion ability system clear and intuitive to use?

nope. once again, I just poked around though their UI until I found the right pages. and after that, there was nothing to genuinely indicate that i could not use all of their skill slots on their one bar, other then the quick message popping up and then after going back into their UI, seeing that they only had 2 skills slotted.

Did your companion use the slotted abilities as you expected them to?

no. Bastian in particular just LOVED to pull mobs behind me and then he would start backing away. its like playing with a dps who is so new to the game, they run away from the smallest mob instead of running TO the tank. I ended up unslotting his pull which I slotted in a first place because I have made an assumption that their skill lines level the same way as the player's - via slotted skills. I'm now wondering if this was a wrong assumption - but nothing in UI tells you one way or another that I can see.

Did you feel the companion talked too much or too little in various circumstances?

I enjoy their overworld commentary. but with how slowly rapport builds I didn't get to experience much of their interactive conversations as I'm basically stuck on the first two options repeating over and over.

Combat

What did you think of the Companion combat abilities in general? Were there any that felt too powerful or not powerful enough?

they feel about as powerful as an overcooked angel hair noodle (or in other words - they felt incredibly weak to me against things that they were advertised to be helpful with). it literally feels better playing solo than with companion as they just scatter the mobs, barely deal any damage to them and then die in seconds. I gave up resurrecting them in combat after 3 deaths. its faster to just finish the kill solo then try to pick them up and take too much damage myself.

Were you able to configure your companion to perform the role you wished?

no. leveling goes so slowly, they kept resetting their progress every time I would zone in/out of an area or used a wayshrine and I haven't even gotten far enough to unlock their entire skill bar. I didn't want to play with max level companions as I wanted to see what the process of leveling them is like and how they feel prior to that.

Were you able to effectively utilize keyboard/gamepad shortcuts to direct companion target behavior? (Hold Y and left click to attack vs Hold Y and right click to hold off)

no, i didn't even know that its what that does, I just thought it was their ultimate button. as i haven't had a chance to unlock their ultimate - I ignored it. they seem to be in assist mode otherwise, where they attack whatever I'm attacking at any given time.

Customization/Progression

How did the companion progression feel in terms of time to level up, advance skills, unlock abilities, improve rapport, or acquire equipment? Was the progress clear in terms of how to access everything?

it felt awful and slow. there apparently is a cooldown on rapport and there is no clear indication of how much rapport you get when you do get a bump or drop, only that you got... something. as in 6 hours of play I haven't had a single piece of companion equipment drop for me (and that playtime included multiple delves and a public dungeon with completed quest and multiple bosses. I didn't manage to find all of the bosses but I did find enough to unlock initial achievement and the group event) I had to look up to even where to buy white equipment.

Was the companion cosmetic customization experience clear and function as expected?

was it clear? yes. did it function as expected? no. to my horror I have realized that I cannot wear the same costume as my companion, but have different dye on in. whatever dye I put on my costume - is the dye that companion will be wearing and vice versa. there is no individualizing that - we match forcibly.

Rapport

Did you understand how to influence your companion through the rapport system?

barely. I just did variety of things and some of them seem to have give rapport. but then doing more of the same thing would NOT give rapport. only after reading the forums did I find out that there is a cooldown. there is no indication in game that I can find of that cooldown or how long it is.

Was it clear when rapport was being adjusted and why?

more or less. the notification pops up immediately after completing an action, so it wasn't too difficult to make a connection when it did work. the problem was a cooldown where sometimes performing a particular action resulted in rapport adjustment, and other times - it would not. and that added to confusion on whether a particular action did or did not work.

Do you have any other general feedback?

honestly, for the feature that I have been looking forward to - its disappointing. companions are weak, their AI is terrible. leveling them feels like a slog. gearing them feels even worse. I'm still not sure WHY I can't just use player gear on them, it just seems arbitrary. I dislike that their gear now takes up extra space in already limited bag space. I dislike that questing with them does NOTHING for rapport or leveling them, only combat levels them and only particular limited actions build rapport. they fill superfluous and sometimes like a downright hindrance.

Ryuvain

Just my quick thoughts:

They need their health increased dramatically, like x4 ish. Some overland enemy that hits me for a tenth of my health probably would almost one shot a companion. Their health is ridiculously low. Tried to let them tank a little with full damage reduction gear and got a little laugh out of it. Healer is probably their best role.

Companion gear is pretty boring, was looking forward to crafting gear for them or coming up with good combinations. Also why does it take up slots too? I already am nearly full on all my characters and bank.

Their cooldowns also need help. They're so long that they end up not doing much due to that alone.

Bugs: they sometimes end up losing their weapon and try to punch people from range? Also they dont try to reposition at all, so they will stay behind a rock/wall and keep trying to hit an enemy that they can't.

xgoku1

Which areas or zones were you in with your companion?
Blackwood.

What types of gameplay were you doing with your companion?
Killed 3 world bosses, the Deadlands public dungeon and the zone public dungeon.

Was it clear how to access the Companions interface?
Yes.

But how to get access to Companions for the PTS was not clear as it was not mentioned in the documentation that it is available readily under Collections>Allies. A lot of people in Zone chat were also confused as to how to get it, with them assuming that you had to do the quest associated with them first.

From the Patch Notes, that was the impression I got as well, but I discovered it by accident.

Was the Companion ability system clear and intuitive to use?
Mostly. As with any sequential activation system it relies on the user's logic, for example, to choose to put high cooldown self-heal abilities as high priority etc.

Did your companion use the slotted abilities as you expected them to?
The abilities I slotted did seem to activate.

Did you feel the companion talked too much or too little in various circumstances?
Didn't bother me.

What did you think of the Companion combat abilities in general? Were there any that felt too powerful or not powerful enough?
I consider Companions to be dead-on-arrival content. There is 0 motivation to use them in its current state. Actually, if I could avoid the clutter from Companion sets, I would choose to do that - so it's negative motivation.

The good:
As Healer the companions do roughly the same HPS as Crit Surge on my Sorc character. Considering their highly limited utility and severely limited AI I feel that this is appropriate.

The bad:
DPS: Companions take aggro from random trash mob and die. Not worth resurrecting in the heat of battle.
Tank: See above, but + takes 2 hits from boss and dies. Not worth resurrecting as the AI is not smart enough to do mechanics (world boss, public dungeon mechanics) and simply eats every attack.

Were you able to configure your companion to perform the role you wished?
This is a minimum viable product. There is no real advanced AI and quite simply put it's just normal NPC behaviour + skills that go off in a sequence. That being said, I expected nothing more and was completely OK with them being a healer/buff support, which it does adequately as long as it's not dead (which is most of the time)

Were you able to effectively utilize keyboard/gamepad shortcuts to direct companion target behavior? (Hold Y and left click to attack vs Hold Y and right click to hold off)
Don't care.

How did the companion progression feel in terms of time to level up, advance skills, unlock abilities, improve rapport, or acquire equipment? Was the progress clear in terms of how to access everything?
I used a level maxer for both companions and used the template sets to test them, so I can't comment on that.

The equipment system for companions is really, really annoying. If they were even halfway useful it could possibly warrant the amount of clutter going to be introduced with this new system, and let's be real, it's not a good system, it's not really useful beyond being background noise while questing. And that's OK. But the idea of Companion set items dropping from the monster loot table and from bosses, with 7 traits and multiple quality levels, and causing further inventory problems (especially for non ESO+) is really adding salt in the wound.

And the Trait system for Companions is a definite step backward compared to the current state of sets in ESO. No re-traiting options apart from selling via Guild Stores and such - which is a bold assumption to make if anyone cares for this in 2 months' time.

Was the companion cosmetic customization experience clear and function as expected?
Sure. I don't like the body model of Mirri because none of the costumes I used seemed to fit.

Did you understand how to influence your companion through the rapport system?
The big bar in the Companion menu was sufficient.

Was it clear when rapport was being adjusted and why?
There needs to be a system to keep track of Companion's likes and dislikes. If there are a lot of likes and a lot of dislikes, then it would be nice to keep a track of it in-game rather than through an external website.

Because some of them are not really as straightforward as the example you gave during the trailers, i.e. stealing things is approved by Mirri, and not approved by Bastian.

One of the things that decreased my rapport was simply going to the Docks area in Leyawiin. How am I supposed to know that to begin with? And how do I know not to do that next time, if the act of simply passing through the docks area in any city is enough to trigger her sea sickness? Surely there must be a list of things they like and dislike, that are populated as you discover them.

The dialogue seems a bit confusing? Eg. While killing Dremora in the Deadlands public dungeon, Mirri commented asking why I was killing the livestock. I assumed it was a bug. There was no change in rapport.

Do you have any other general feedback?
Opinion:
If I had to describe Companions in one word it would be "pathetic".

I understand this is a product made during difficult post-Corona development, but compared to previous DLCs "big catch", i.e. Necromancer for Elsweyr, Mythics for Greymoor, Jewelry for Summerset, Warden for Morrowind - this year's DLC is not "a little something for everyone" but mostly focused only on the super casual, single player audience. Seems myopic and is definitely setting a precedent.

Casual players are a large floating population that moves from game to game, but choosing to focus on them is an understandable business decision as this game has a strong single-player vibe. However this should be done without ignoring the more serious, mid to end-game playerbase. Companions offer nothing to them, and the chapter's sales hinges on the introduction of OP crit-boosting Mythic items to lure them in... not a healthy way to overcompensate.

Feedback:
1. Companions dying needs to be completely removed. They need to have a "winded" state as in Skyrim, Fallout games etc. where they lose taunt and cannot be attacked until they "shake it off"

2. Companion set collection needs to be looked at. Some system like Set Collections would be appropriate, where the set drops and is added to a collection list off the Inventory. Please do not add to our inventory management problems.

3. Since Companion AI is super limited and probably will never replace an actual player, they need to be buffed A LOT to "replace" even a light-attack spamming, no skill casting human player. Healer role is OK. Tank is expected to eat attacks for at least 20-30 seconds. DPS should do 10-15k damage in dungeons (these are all what I consider "borderline" useful)

4. Companion useability is severely limited for non-casual players. I don't agree with them taking player slots in dungeons and trials - they should instead have a separate limit. Say 2 companions max in dungeons and 6 max in trials. That would make it maybe attractive for people who want to experiment with Companion builds etc.

5. They should be allowed in Solo arenas. That is THE biggest hurdle for solo players, yet your solo-focused product specifically ignores this. It would let them partake in this content a bit easier.

supermr

I want to tell you that I am very disappointed with the partners .
I can't understand why they are needed at all.

If it's just for solo players to role-play, then why make it so difficult with them. Give them phrases, behaviors, and other role-playing attributes, as well as standard attack and defense characteristics for them, and a fixed set of skills for their roles ( for example, Tank Sebastian).
And then there will be no questions , there will just be more advanced versions of the current non-combat pets.

But why did you give them the opportunity to collect skill sets of skills, various equipment, make them pass daily guild tasks to open skills, if it's all completely useless.

You have forbidden them to take them to single arenas, they will never replace a player in group content ( no matter how strong they are, they will still not perform mechanics ) but even in the open world, they are completely useless , they do not fulfill their roles, they die at a glance .

A month left before the release, and the mechanics are in their infancy.. I have no faith that everything will be radically improved for the better.

It is necessary to seriously review their concept, so that the time and money invested in them are appropriate

Either you make them just advanced pets for a role playing game or you make them normal fighting companions capable of beating at least a dragon in south Elsweyr
If they can't be taken anywhere else, then give people the opportunity to pump their clothes and conduct experiments solo in veteran dungeons, otherwise there is no sense from them, but to do this, you must seriously work on them

Lady_Galadhiel

Bug? A player pointed me out where to find Mirris quest (top of the map?),showed me the specific location of the letter on the floor what suppose to have her quest but for me the letter was not showing nor was she standing there for me as a normal npc.

I can not seem to find any quest for those 2 companions or is it because I did make a full cp character and have them both unlocked already from the start?

Ryuvain

Lady_Galadhiel wrote: »

Bug? A player pointed me out where to find Mirris quest (top of the map?),showed me the specific location of the letter on the floor what suppose to have her quest but for me the letter was not showing nor was she standing there for me as a normal npc.

I can not seem to find any quest for those 2 companions or is it because I did make a full cp character and have them both unlocked already from the start?

I ended up doing Mirri's quest because I didn't know how to make a template, so the quest works. I made a template later and ended up with Bastian even when I didn't do his quest.

Zypheran

Just as an overview... brilliant system!I Love it. Its the first time in years im eager to get back into the game and start grinding something.

General
Which areas or zones were you in with your companion? - Blackwood overland and dungeons
What types of gameplay were you doing with your companion? Solo PVE
Interaction
Was it clear how to access the Companions interface? - very easy and intuitive
Was the Companion ability system clear and intuitive to use? - yes, very much so
Did your companion use the slotted abilities as you expected them to? - yes, i think a good balance
Did you feel the companion talked too much or too little in various circumstances?
Combat - I would have liked a little more talk but wouldnt complain about the current level
What did you think of the Companion combat abilities in general? Were there any that felt too powerful or not powerful enough? - No, i think as once leveled, they felt well balanced
Were you able to configure your companion to perform the role you wished? - Hmm, not really. But I expect as different companions are made available that that diversity will improve. I would like to see a bit more customisation in terms of whether companions are aggressive or passive
Were you able to effectively utilize keyboard/gamepad shortcuts to direct companion target behavior? (Hold Y and left click to attack vs Hold Y and right click to hold off) - didnt try that or even know it was a thing!
Customization/Progression
How did the companion progression feel in terms of time to level up, advance skills, unlock abilities, improve rapport, or acquire equipment? Was the progress clear in terms of how to access everything? Progression seemed clear but I used the template maximisers to skip the grind
Was the companion cosmetic customization experience clear and function as expected? - the no helmet hide was a dissappointing limitation to an otherwise great customisation menu
Rapport
Did you understand how to influence your companion through the rapport system? - no
Was it clear when rapport was being adjusted and why? - no
Do you have any other general feedback? - just simply that I love the system and it will get me back playing again

ajkb78

Sandman929 wrote: »

So, just to clarify, the companion and I build rapport...we're friends. We travel everywhere together and fight (apparently not very well)...but they aren't welcome in my home?

Oh come on, everyone has friends like that. Great on an adventure but you just know in the evening they'll get drunk and scribble on the portraits XD

Baertram

M companions can only slot 2 skills from the start. Skill slots 3 to 5 are locked and each time I drag or add a skill to them it says (at the top right corner of the screen) "Slot is not unlocked".

The slots do not show any lock icon or whatever, they just are not slottable/usable as it seems.
Is this normal?

ajkb78

code65536 wrote: »

It would be better if the "potent" health potion's bonus effect granted both magicka and stamina (perhaps at lower levels?) rather than just magicka.

It would be better if the potent potions were like a 3 ingredient potion so that the recovery buff lasted the full potion cooldown with maxed alchemy, just like a proper potion but without the crit and damage buffs.

NoxiousBlight

xgoku1 wrote: »

Feedback:
1. Companions dying needs to be completely removed. They need to have a "winded" state as in Skyrim, Fallout games etc. where they lose taunt and cannot be attacked until they "shake it off"

I like this. My main problem isn't that they are weak, just that they spend most of the time dead. I suggested 50% damage reduction to them, but if they just get winded for 10 seconds then pop back up, it solves the problem in a different way. I would like to see the damage mitigation and this implemented.

Even if they are weak, as long as they are alive I am having fun. But a dead companion = a frustrated player who isn't enjoying themselves.

Fata1moose

I’m happy with the addition of companions and feel we have a good basis but there’s a lot of room for improvement across the board.

Dialogue

• Frankly there’s not enough interaction with the companion in terms of dialogue. ESO’s dialogue trees are a weak point of the game with it basically boiling down to one response or questions. I was hoping companions would be an avenue to improve upon this with companions asking for thoughts and opinions that would directly affect rapport. Contextual options would be cool such as having social conversations come up when you enter an Inn. Basically let us inject our characters personality into the game with a variety of options when talking to a companion that could help or hurt rapport.
• There’s not enough variety in rapport statues or companion info lines. I get the same two lines for each from Merri regarding her father being an antiquarian or favoring a bow. Nothing about liking torchbugs or anything else really.

Rapport, Friendships and Romance

• I like the flavor of world interactions contributing to rapport but the primary source of rapport should come from conversations with companions. Right now it’s too grindy and light on story elements
• Character arcs would be nice with the ability to advance a relationship from adventuring partners to friends to romance options cumilating in marriage. Perhaps we could get new updates throughout the year. Chapter initial companion release, Dungeon 2 quests and finally Q4 DLC quests where romance becomes available.

Combat and AI

• Right now they’re far too weak and I don’t see how they’ll help newer players clear content. I took Merri into nArx Corinium and she was constantly dying and slowing down my DPS because I would have to revive her. She would take damage in AOEs and not even attack at times.
• Pathfinding and keeping up with the player needs to be improved. Obviously there’s needs to be some level of immersion maintained where they’re not moving so fast the the kinematics and animation look wonky but right now while mounted Merri can’t even keep up when I don’t gallop at all.
• Also the companion health bar flashing in and out of existence when they disappear to catch up is really distracting and should not be a thing.

General quick hits

• Instead of adding a ton of companions in the future I’d rather see them added more purposefully with a focus on fleshed out characters With a good amount of dialogue, quests and polish associated with them.
• One of the reasons this was a commonly requested feature was we wanted to travel around more with existing characters so seeing fan favorites return as companions such as Naryu, Kireth, Raz and Darien.

ThorianB

NoxiousBlight wrote: »

xgoku1 wrote: »

Feedback:
1. Companions dying needs to be completely removed. They need to have a "winded" state as in Skyrim, Fallout games etc. where they lose taunt and cannot be attacked until they "shake it off"

I like this. My main problem isn't that they are weak, just that they spend most of the time dead. I suggested 50% damage reduction to them, but if they just get winded for 10 seconds then pop back up, it solves the problem in a different way. I would like to see the damage mitigation and this implemented.

Even if they are weak, as long as they are alive I am having fun. But a dead companion = a frustrated player who isn't enjoying themselves.

Buying a chapter in which the major feature is a companion who spends most of their time dead is like buying already moldy bread.

rei91

LuxanQualta wrote: »

[b
This should be accountwide. Once we have got through the story we know the deal. We do not need to repeat it over and over and over and over and over. Think about it - there are real people playing - not player character avatars. We do not need to hear the dialog again. It adds nothing to the game. It is annoying and not fun to have to waste time.

Please don't speak for everyone. Many people here like to replay quests, and companion quests are nice.

(P.s. really, their quests and random chat are the only things that's really nice about them right now. Because their combat prowess... yeah... Completely useless for a solo player at the moment)

Ilsabet

Lady_Galadhiel wrote: »

Bug? A player pointed me out where to find Mirris quest (top of the map?),showed me the specific location of the letter on the floor what suppose to have her quest but for me the letter was not showing nor was she standing there for me as a normal npc.

I can not seem to find any quest for those 2 companions or is it because I did make a full cp character and have them both unlocked already from the start?

Yeah, it's presumably because you were using a max-level template character. If the companions are already unlocked, then it's like you've already completed the quests.

Ancalag

Ancalag wrote: »

General

Which areas or zones were you in with your companion?

Deshaan, Bankorai and Blackwood

What types of gameplay were you doing with your companion?

Killing mob in the overworld, traveling around, World Boss, Dark Anchor and setup builds for the companion.



Interaction

Was it clear how to access the Companions interface?

Yes

Was the Companion ability system clear and intuitive to use?

Yes

Did your companion use the slotted abilities as you expected them to?

Not really. The cooldown are respected but they don't use them at the moment it's ready again. I have no idea how it is programmed, but a good and easy thing could be use the first ability, if not available, do the second one... etc.
That way we can easily manage their skills rotation. For exemple for dps it's buff, aoe dots, single target dots and then spammable.
For healing, they should use it when needed and taunt again before it's over for tank.

Did you feel the companion talked too much or too little in various circumstances?

Sound fine for me, we'll see after a couple of month if it's not too repetitive. But in that case we have the possibility to mute them in the option.



Combat

What did you think of the Companion combat abilities in general? Were there any that felt too powerful or not powerful enough?

I test with best gear possible at max level and it's not particularlly powerfull. But the problem is more about the cooldowns than the abilities themselves in my opinion. The spammable ability should be no more than 2s cooldown, having the time to do one light attack in between and doing one between each ability. The buffs and dots abilities should have a cooldown not more than their duration and taunt abilities should have a cooldown lower than their duration to have the time to retaunt before losing it.
With reduce cooldown trait, the companion should be able to have a 1s spamable, reaplaying buff and dots before the end and taunt multiple ennemies.
That way you help new player learning rotation and how to perform correctly in the game.

Were you able to configure your companion to perform the role you wished?

Dependantly of what you mean by "the role you wished" I could answer yes or no. I was able to give them equipement and skills to do tank/dps/healer things, but they are not able to do it properly.
The DPS is way too low to be usefull. I do more dps just spamming light attacks. I don't know how many they could have with the changes on cooldowns I talked above, but a 25-30k at max lvl with best equipement will be enough to make them usefull in any PvE content. They will never replace a player (good dps start at 60k) but actually it's just terrible.
Even more because they dying all the time even with tanky equipement and self heal. You should make them moving more, like out of area of effects abilities when rolldodge cooldown is not ready.
For taunt as tank, learn them to taunt the biggest boss first, then the little adds if they can. Actually, taunts cooldows make them losing aggro and make them totally useless as tank. They also should not taunt mob already taunt by an other player/companion.

Were you able to effectively utilize keyboard/gamepad shortcuts to direct companion target behavior? (Hold Y and left click to attack vs Hold Y and right click to hold off)

Even if the shortcut is not easy to reach, yes.
I will probably assign it on one of my mouse button if I use it often.



Customization/Progression

How did the companion progression feel in terms of time to level up, advance skills, unlock abilities, improve rapport, or acquire equipment? Was the progress clear in terms of how to access everything?

Don't know, I used stuff to max them.

Was the companion cosmetic customization experience clear and function as expected?

No, it took me a while to understand we can't customize in our home. After that I discovered we can't use motif and individually dies on costumes. I'm pretty disapointed about that.



Rapport

Did you understand how to influence your companion through the rapport system?

Yes, even if it didn't move so much.

Was it clear when rapport was being adjusted and why?

I didn't take attention about that, so I can't answer.



Do you have any other general feedback?

Out of what I already said about cooldowns and performance, I have a few things to say.
I do understand you don't want them to replace a player, but at the same take the place of one in donjons...
Don't need to make a super AI, just know that everything in this game is about positionning. To represent that you could add something to apply them a role (like with donjon finder) and will make them acting differently depending of their role.

- Tank: should taunt main boss first then adds. Turn around the mob to make him not facing the player. Block most of the time. Move out of AoE. Light attack less often. Bash to interupt when around and heavy attack sometime.

- DPS: move on the back of taunted mobs. Move out of AoE. Block/rolldodge when big damage will income.

- Healer: stay back to the player. Move out of AoE. Block/rolldodge when big damage will income.

Last thing about machanics, we could ask them activate/use things like levers, doors, pads... with the control shortcut pointing on it.
For boss mechanics, it will be too complexe to learn them all, so at least reduce income damage from these or just make them immune to them.

Was the companion cosmetic customization experience clear and function as expected?

I finaly found how to customise them with all my motifs, it's way better !


Do you have any other general feedback?

Yes, the fact banker and trader dissmiss the companion is just terrible, I use them all the time and the animation to make the companion coming is just too long. That also mean when you're in a donjon with 2 others players and your companion, if you call your banker/trader because you're full, the companion of someone else will take the place...

I'm really sorry for you zoz, but actually companions are terribly useless. You can do better !

Sju

Ilsabet wrote: »

Lady_Galadhiel wrote: »

Bug? A player pointed me out where to find Mirris quest (top of the map?),showed me the specific location of the letter on the floor what suppose to have her quest but for me the letter was not showing nor was she standing there for me as a normal npc.

I can not seem to find any quest for those 2 companions or is it because I did make a full cp character and have them both unlocked already from the start?

Yeah, it's presumably because you were using a max-level template character. If the companions are already unlocked, then it's like you've already completed the quests.

I used a brand new character and they were already unlocked, but I was also able to pick up the letter and complete the quest.

Merforum

I see some interesting things on PTS

1. when I first logged in I have NO chatacters and was able to create a new one with level 50, it also had all the sets available

2. after update when I logged on I had ALL my toons from NA live available (which cool but why), but didn't have that other toon I created earlier on PTS, also I don't have access to all the cool equipment like earlier

3. So I tried to create a new toon with (blackwood max level) selected, and it didn't work I start with lvl3, something is not working

4. I also noticed some people are getting Mirri/Bastion just for logging in to PTS but I had to go through their full quests

5. Mirri's quest was fine but Bastian quest map was not visible, just the objective points were

COMPANIONS

1. I started leveling up both companions and I love the concept, they are actually a lot better than many people are reporting or at least my perception of what I'm reading and what it feels like to actually use them

2. One thing that I can agree with though is that they are SUPER LOW DPS/combat capable, I did some various testing with letting them fight different levels of other monsters in game, and I would say that are the equivalent of the wimpiest NPC, the only difference is they'll have more skills not on cooldown those can make difference but if just trading LA they will die

3. My recommendation which should be easy, is scale them off the MINI BOSS level toons in overland, delve, dungeon, trial, vet, etc, that way they have a bit more power and will perform mostly the same as the content you are using them in

4. Mine are too low level to test fully but as tanks they seem to be utterly worthless, even my clannefar can take 3 hits from a world boss before I have to heal her, I think the tank role will be the only role that can't be totally replaced by a bot in difficult content but in easy content the companions need to be at least as good a clannefar

5. I think these companions could be amazing ranged healers and/or DPS with a tiny bit of help, they need to be better at rolling out of red or have resistance to aoe. and PLEASE ADD SOME AOE SKILLS, I think I saw Wall for staff, but all their class abilities seem to be single target and most MELEE range, fear was nice but getting close got Mirri 1 shot a couple times cause it doesn't work on bosses

6. Also I was able to rez Mirri several times in group dungeon, but running with bastian I could not rez him ever, while fighting world bosses and once on dolmen, I even used the necromancer ultimate on him 2 times and it didn't work

7. the gear drop rate seems a bit bad, but even worse I can't find the gear at any of the sellers that you said would have them, armorer, fletcher, etc

These companions have massive potential and I think they could open a whole new aspect of the game. I hope at some point you will allow us to use 3 of them at he same time. If they were flexible enough to create a full team to do a vet group dungeon and arena that would be amazing. I already know it is super fun on sorc with 2 pets, now with companion too that would be great. Hey when are we getting a sorc, wrden or necro companion WITH PETS

Merforum

Merforum wrote: »

I see some interesting things on PTS

1. when I first logged in I have NO chatacters and was able to create a new one with level 50, it also had all the sets available

2. after update when I logged on I had ALL my toons from NA live available (which cool but why), but didn't have that other toon I created earlier on PTS, also I don't have access to all the cool equipment like earlier

3. So I tried to create a new toon with (blackwood max level) selected, and it didn't work I start with lvl3, something is not working

4. I also noticed some people are getting Mirri/Bastion just for logging in to PTS but I had to go through their full quests

5. Mirri's quest was fine but Bastian quest map was not visible, just the objective points were

COMPANIONS

1. I started leveling up both companions and I love the concept, they are actually a lot better than many people are reporting or at least my perception of what I'm reading and what it feels like to actually use them

2. One thing that I can agree with though is that they are SUPER LOW DPS/combat capable, I did some various testing with letting them fight different levels of other monsters in game, and I would say that are the equivalent of the wimpiest NPC, the only difference is they'll have more skills not on cooldown those can make difference but if just trading LA they will die

3. My recommendation which should be easy, is scale them off the MINI BOSS level toons in overland, delve, dungeon, trial, vet, etc, that way they have a bit more power and will perform mostly the same as the content you are using them in

4. Mine are too low level to test fully but as tanks they seem to be utterly worthless, even my clannefar can take 3 hits from a world boss before I have to heal her, I think the tank role will be the only role that can't be totally replaced by a bot in difficult content but in easy content the companions need to be at least as good a clannefar

5. I think these companions could be amazing ranged healers and/or DPS with a tiny bit of help, they need to be better at rolling out of red or have resistance to aoe. and PLEASE ADD SOME AOE SKILLS, I think I saw Wall for staff, but all their class abilities seem to be single target and most MELEE range, fear was nice but getting close got Mirri 1 shot a couple times cause it doesn't work on bosses

6. Also I was able to rez Mirri several times in group dungeon, but running with bastian I could not rez him ever, while fighting world bosses and once on dolmen, I even used the necromancer ultimate on him 2 times and it didn't work

7. the gear drop rate seems a bit bad, but even worse I can't find the gear at any of the sellers that you said would have them, armorer, fletcher, etc

These companions have massive potential and I think they could open a whole new aspect of the game. I hope at some point you will allow us to use 3 of them at he same time. If they were flexible enough to create a full team to do a vet group dungeon and arena that would be amazing. I already know it is super fun on sorc with 2 pets, now with companion too that would be great. Hey when are we getting a sorc, wrden or necro companion WITH PETS

Anoother bug I found is that I did the mage, fighter and bogrul quests 4 times with both toons and those skill lines haven't changed at all.

elinien

Feedback for 7.0.0.

What types of gameplay were you doing with your companion?
Solo dungeons, various difficulties, with companions in various roles.

COMBAT

What did you think of the Companion combat abilities in general? Were there any that felt too powerful or not powerful enough?
The companions themselves felt weak overall, too prone to die, though the individual skills seemed fine IF they were being used as often as a normal player might. But they aren't, due to the cooldowns. The most success I had was when the companions were setup with a full bar of heals, but then only in content I was mostly able to solo anyway and just needed a slight boost.

Were you able to configure your companion to perform the role you wished?
Not really, though I had some success with a healer setup.

Were you able to effectively utilize keyboard/gamepad shortcuts to direct companion target behavior?
Yes, within the confines of that system. But it is not nearly enough. The level of control should be a choice, as little or as much as desired... from full hands off to micro managing and everything in between. Unless they can be directed to do certain tasks (stand in a specific place, stay or follow, open levers, interrupt specific targets when you can't otherwise do so or are locked down by mechanics) their usefulness will always be greatly limited.

CUSTOMIZATION/PROGRESSION

How did the companion progression feel in terms of time to level up, advance skills, unlock abilities, improve rapport, or acquire equipment? Was the progress clear in terms of how to access everything?
N/A.... but I will add that the thought of grinding for companion gear is greatly discouraging, plus having it clog up my inventory. Several times it was said "we don't want to burden you" yet that's exactly what the system is doing by not allowing us to use what we already have.

Was the companion cosmetic customization experience clear and function as expected?
Having the cosmetics in two different places was rather clunky, plus having no access when they aren't summoned or in houses was inconvenient.

GENERAL FEEDBACK

While I applaud the idea, in practice this first iteration is of very limited usefulness to me as a solo player (which I primarily am) who does more than quest bosses. The companions don't really have enough damage or survivability to handle anything much harder than select normal dungeons, and then only as healers. The tank I setup frequently died to word-bosses and the dps didn't have enough healing at the right time to survive. Nor do they have granular enough control or the ability to interact with items to get me past things I wouldn't otherwise be able to do alone (the door switches in ICP, for instance), so I'm still locked out of the same content as before.

elinien

NoxiousBlight wrote: »

Even if they are weak, as long as they are alive I am having fun. But a dead companion = a frustrated player who isn't enjoying themselves.

This is so true... they EITHER need to be very useful OR alive. Them being neither is VERY depressing.

GarnetFire17

Suggestions:

1. Make the companions much resistances scale with the player's level. As many have said they need to be tankier and useful at least in normal non-dlc dungeons to be of any use to higher level players

2. CP perks to help improve companions?

3. Instead of having to resurrect the companions when they fall, just put a 30 second timer and let them slowly climb to their feet. That way we don't have to baby sit them as much.

4. Let us put helmets and hats on them. When there is dialogue they can have the hat removed like as what happens at crafting stations. This makes it much more immersive and more fun for players to style.

jwellsub17_ESO2

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for Companions. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

• Which areas or zones were you in with your companion?

Random locations, Cyrodill, Alik'r, Auridon, Glenumbra, Blackwood, etc.

• What types of gameplay were you doing with your companion?

Mostly running around randomly and testing Mirri.

• Did your companion use the slotted abilities as you expected them to?

Not really. At first I was confused by the level locked slots and the "text" message about the slots being level locked was not quite clear, so at first no she failed to use the third ability and later the fourth until I realized about the level locking.

• What did you think of the Companion combat abilities in general? Were there any that felt too powerful or not powerful enough?

I am not a power player, I don't shoot for super DPS, instead I like to play around with concept characters and just have fun. Additionally, I chose to get Mirri with my main instead of creating a new max level char. As such I didn't get a fully skilled Mirri and had to level her up.

I also bought her a full load out of light / medium armor (all white), and a pair of daggers. I did manage to loot a blue resto staff and a ring.

I tried her with some over-world bosses, who I have soloed in the past, trash mobs that I use to test my loadouts, trash mobs that I do while waiting for dolmen, a few public dungeons and delves.

I had her solo some of the trash mobs, zombies, daedroth, and clannfear, using 'Y + R-Click'

Also soloed three or four Dolmen with her where she was a DPS assist and later where she was a healer.

Having said that, I found her a bit on the weak side, but not nearly as weak as some of the previous comments here make her sound. She was capable of soloing dual-clannfear spawn, single daedroth, and even a watcher.

• Were you able to configure your companion to perform the role you wished?

Not really, with the level locked slot limitations, it is kind of difficult to create a role for them, at higher player levels anyway. I did create a level 1 char and found Mirri had the levels she had gained on my main (will be interesting to see this in the long run) but at player levels 1 - 5, she was extremely helpful, without being too powerful.

• How did the companion progression feel in terms of time to level up, advance skills, unlock abilities, improve rapport, or acquire equipment? Was the progress clear in terms of how to access everything?

So far, it seems very very slow (painfully slow), and I am doing it with a level 50 char. Trying to level them with a level 5 character is going to feel very slow and painful.

As a few others have stated, the rapport system needs work. My main is a vampire, member of the dark brotherhood, and a member of the thieves guild. I watched for Mirri's reaction when I employed various abilities and did not see her react, but did see a single pop-up message that my rapport with the had gone down (only once though) when I fed on an innocent. I did not see how to raise my rapport, though I have a few ideas.

• Was it clear when rapport was being adjusted and why?

As stated above, no, it was not clear to me what adjusted my rapport with her.

• Do you have any other general feedback?

As others have stated the AI needs some work and Mirri, at least, needs a significant increase in AOE damage mitigation.

I thought I had heard that we would be able to buy and sell companion gear, and so I decided to look at a couple traders, of course I did find their gear on armor and weapon vendors. I was not expecting so see any companion gear on traders, but I was expecting to see trader categories for companion gear and was more than a little disappointed when I didn't.

In my playing around I also had Mirri attack some zombies and for some reason she never gained agro from doing so, instead the zombies just stood there till she burned them down. I tried this on other mobs and they immediately agro'd on her as I would expect so perhaps it was just in this one area or maybe just zombies. Will be testing this some more, just in case.

Additionally I tried to take her to one of my homes to see how she did against a training dummy and found the she would not appear. I feel companions should be able to go into our homes with us, even if they just become a regular house guest for the duration, it would add a bit more flavor to them.

Also, I noticed a couple times where Mirri's bow "disappeared" and she attempted to box the mobs. She continued to damage them at roughly the same rate, range, and damage as with her bow, but there were a couple times when that happened with a wall between her and the mob. In those cases she did not move and did not appear to be doing any damage either.

Finally, I spent a little time as a pet sorc. It did not appear that my Winged Twilight would heal Mirri and I noticed that my pet ward did not affect her (expected, but was hoping it would).

elinien

jwellsub17_ESO2 wrote: »

Finally, I spent a little time as a pet sorc. It did not appear that my Winged Twilight would heal Mirri and I noticed that my pet ward did not affect her (expected, but was hoping it would).

I was able to get the Twilight to heal Bastian when I was trying him out as a dps in FG1 (it was the only way he would stay alive, haha).

BlueRaven

General
Which areas or zones were you in with your companion?

Several. Blackwood of Course. Alakir, Eastmarch, Grahtwood, Bangkori, Deshaan, Malabol Tor, Auridon

What types of gameplay were you doing with your companion?

I did 2 mages quests and 2 fighters quests, I also did the opening quest for the mages guild. (More on why later.) I also did an Oblivion portal.

Interaction
Was it clear how to access the Companions interface?

Yes.

Was the Companion ability system clear and intuitive to use?

Yes and no, his abilities were fine, the amount of abilities I could slot was not clear.
How to unlock the fighters and mages guild skills also was odd. It says "Do a daily" but I did two each and they have not unlocked. I tried doing the mages guild starter quest to see if that did anything and it also did not work.

Did your companion use the slotted abilities as you expected them to?

Yes, but there were some graphical glitches. I was using Bastion mostly, specced as a healer. And if I killed the target before he finished casting there was a graphical glitch of the effect in the air, near where he stood.

Did you feel the companion talked too much or too little in various circumstances?

If was fine, I was expecting them to talk more actually.

Combat
What did you think of the Companion combat abilities in general? Were there any that felt too powerful or not powerful enough?

Combat and heals felt fine.

Were you able to configure your companion to perform the role you wished?

Took me a while to find a vendor that sold the healing staff, but in general it was ok. Drops seemed pretty scarce though.
Visually I thought it was annoying that I had to go to a public dye station to change how they looked. AND I was also annoyed there was just one"costume" to give them. I was hoping I could tailor their look for each character. I guess I will have to do that with costumes.

Were you able to effectively utilize keyboard/gamepad shortcuts to direct companion target behavior? (Hold Y and left click to attack vs Hold Y and right click to hold off)

Nope, and I did not know this was a mechanic.

Customization/Progression
How did the companion progression feel in terms of time to level up, advance skills, unlock abilities, improve rapport, or acquire equipment? Was the progress clear in terms of how to access everything?

Progression felt slooooow. I did not get a good feel good feel of his likes and dislikes.
I still am unclear how to progress through the guild skill lines.

Was the companion cosmetic customization experience clear and function as expected?

Again I wish I could customize the companion per character. Also I would like to be able to use a dye station in a home.

Rapport
Did you understand how to influence your companion through the rapport system?

Not really.

Was it clear when rapport was being adjusted and why?

No.

Do you have any other general feedback?

I died in a Oblivion portal fighting a boss. When I revived the companion did not engage in the fight, Bastion just followed me around like a non-combat pet. I had to resummon him.

I wish I could apply polymorphs to the companion, I have some necros and it would be cool to make them look like a skeleton or deadra. Basically I would like to customize the companion per the character I am on.

Also if I could make them say a tank for some characters, and a dps for others, that would be great too.

And I wish there were more diversity in race and gender. I know this is early, but I hope you create more and quickly. So I can give each of my characters an appropriate companion.

Lastly, I wish there was a special storage system for their gear they are not using at the moment.

Overall I very much like the concept of them, but I wish their implementation could be a bit more dynamic to work with each character I have differently.

Cireous

After 3 days on the PTS, I attempted to play on the regular server, but, companion-free, the experience quickly felt empty and lonely. So, well done, I now cannot live without companions. Therefore, you must be doing something right.

jwellsub17_ESO2

Merforum wrote: »

Merforum wrote: »

I see some interesting things on PTS

1. when I first logged in I have NO chatacters and was able to create a new one with level 50, it also had all the sets available

2. after update when I logged on I had ALL my toons from NA live available (which cool but why), but didn't have that other toon I created earlier on PTS, also I don't have access to all the cool equipment like earlier

Every two week, ZOS wipes the PTS and loads a backup from one of the live servers, NA and EU. Because of this, your NA characters will be on there for 2 weeks and then be removed for EU for 2 weeks and then removed for NA again. Because they are loading from the live servers, any characters you create or changes you make on the PTS will be lost with the next load from live.

Merforum

jwellsub17_ESO2 wrote: »

Merforum wrote: »

I see some interesting things on PTS

1. when I first logged in I have NO chatacters and was able to create a new one with level 50, it also had all the sets available

2. after update when I logged on I had ALL my toons from NA live available (which cool but why), but didn't have that other toon I created earlier on PTS, also I don't have access to all the cool equipment like earlier

Every two week, ZOS wipes the PTS and loads a backup from one of the live servers, NA and EU. Because of this, your NA characters will be on there for 2 weeks and then be removed for EU for 2 weeks and then removed for NA again. Because they are loading from the live servers, any characters you create or changes you make on the PTS will be lost with the next load from live.

OMG a very helpful answer that actually addresses one of my questions without a snarky comment or insult. Thank you my friend, I might have to frame this.

Edit: format issue

Batgirl32

Which areas or zones were you in with your companion?
Shadowfen

What types of gameplay were you doing with your companion?
Dolmens for Fighter's Guild daily quest

During the battle at one dolmen, Bastion died, and then suddenly I kept repeated notifications of him leveling up, so I checked the overview screen to see he had somehow earned almost 5 billion exp (image 1). So we ported to a different area of Shadowfen and the exp reset back to normal (image 2)

Batgirl32

Completed one of each with Bastion and handed them in with Bastion - Fighter's Guild Daily, Mages's Guild Daily and Bolgrul Undaunted Daily. He did not receive any experience when I handed them in and it did not unlock the skill lines for him.

Also, I noticed that some of the boxes to slot skills unlock overtime, However, this is not clear. Perhaps if they were greyed out a bit so that you knew they weren't available.