Are Companions useful to you?

Elsonso

Sometimes. I will use them occasionally, while Questing, doing Overland content, fill missing player slots for Dungeons etc.

remosito wrote: »

Wise_Will wrote: »

Free meatshield for World Bosses

tried with all 6 wbs in shadowfen. Dead within seconds unless I heal like crazy. Wasting skill slots and resources...

What level and with what gear equipped?

Lab3360

No. I do not find them useful at all.

xgoku1 wrote: »

Companions are a new system introduced with the Blackwood DLC.

Opinions seem divided on their inclusion into the game, so I wanted to gauge player opinion on this system.

Philip Draven, ESO’s Lead Systems Designer:
“Companions have abilities to fulfill all combat roles (damage, healing, tanking, and hybridization) in many common gameplay situations. However, they are not intended to replace or be as powerful as other players. If you prefer to tank, you may find a damage or healing-centric Companion to be an invaluable ally, whereas if you’re more focused on damage, you may benefit from a Companion configured as a tank to draw some attention away from you.”

Feedback to companions on PTS has been generally negative, mostly due to their lacking AI not being able to cope with enemy mechanics.

Are you interested in what's advertised for this year's big DLC feature?

Feel free to explain why you find them useful or not, in this thread

No one asked for companions ZOS.

Will you ever listen to your playerbase?

Hal

Sometimes. I will use them occasionally, while Questing, doing Overland content, fill missing player slots for Dungeons etc.

After reading some of the Feedback for them in the thread, I hear they die often!
As a Necromancer, I won't say no to an extra corpse!

SeaGtGruff

Lab3360 wrote: »

No one asked for companions ZOS.

Will you ever listen to your playerbase?

That's not true. Before companions were announced, it was not uncommon to see an occasional post from someone asking for the ability to recruit companions to help out.

ZOS does listen to their playerbase-- but listening to what people say, and acting on it, are different things.

The playerbase contains many voices, and it seems like most of them are saying opposite things.

Group A wants companions. Group B doesn't want companions.

Group C wants easier content. Group D wants harder content.

Group E wants werewolves to be stronger than vampires. Group F wants vampires to be stronger than werewolves.

Group G wants more PvP. Group H wants less PvP.

Group I wants sorcs to be nerfed. Group J wants sorcs to be buffed.

And so on, and so forth. There's no general consensus about what players want and don't want.

And for that reason, it's probably a very good thing that ZOS makes their own decisions about which requests to ignore and which to act upon, as well as what form that action will take.

omegatay_ESO

BlackTearsOfHope wrote: »

I play Warden. I have my bear follow me around, even though I could play easily without it; as it really doesn't add much to the fight and gets killed a lot. I just like having a companion pet following around and helping what little it does. Same with companions, will do the same with it, when I get it.

I actually use my bear a lot. The bears help with overland trash, and public dungeons is noticeable. Although, his AI is dumb as all get out. So expecting companions to be better, I don't see it. I think companions is for players that want a companion, but don't want a bear, or monsters as pets.
I honestly don't really understand why zos did companions, and did them no better than what we already have.. *shrugs*

cyclonus11

Other: I don't know, and won't know until I get to play with one

GreenHere

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

Lab3360 wrote: »

No one asked for companions ZOS.

Will you ever listen to your playerbase?

That's not true. Before companions were announced, it was not uncommon to see an occasional post from someone asking for the ability to recruit companions to help out.

ZOS does listen to their playerbase-- but listening to what people say, and acting on it, are different things.

The playerbase contains many voices, and it seems like most of them are saying opposite things.

Group A wants companions. Group B doesn't want companions.

Group C wants easier content. Group D wants harder content.

Group E wants werewolves to be stronger than vampires. Group F wants vampires to be stronger than werewolves.

Group G wants more PvP. Group H wants less PvP.

Group I wants sorcs to be nerfed. Group J wants sorcs to be buffed.

And so on, and so forth. There's no general consensus about what players want and don't want.

And for that reason, it's probably a very good thing that ZOS makes their own decisions about which requests to ignore and which to act upon, as well as what form that action will take.

Okay... that's a fair point to some extent, but it feels like a pretty big oversimplification. Bordering on a false argument.

It's not like everyone around here is at opposite extremes all the time. The forums are continually loaded with meaningful feedback, thoughtful solutions & compromises, and carefully articulated viewpoints (and also unhelpful nonsense, to be sure; but that's beside the point)... most all of which go entirely unacknowledged by ZOS. And judging by the product they put out, even IF they see and fully grasp said community input (Press X to doubt), a whole heck of a lot of their own decisions pretty clearly indicate a lack of interest and/or ability to find workable compromises or solutions to things we all want addressed. Or at the very least, a lack of interest/ability to make the community feel heard & respected.

Of course different groups have different opinions, goals, and whatnot. And we agree that ZOS cannot make everyone happy because it's simply impossible. But to say how they do things is right because there's just no consensus whatsoever in the community feels... wrong. Most players generally want the same thing: the game to be done better. Groups A & B would mostly agree that Companions could be a worthwhile addition to the game -- IF they were done well. Groups C & D could both get onboard with a solution that made game difficulty suit more players more often. Groups E & F would be able to agree on a compromise where both are balanced and unique and had ways to counter each other. And so on and so on. To act like compromises are unheard of on the forums or that ZOS handles it all on their own fairly well is just simply not the case.

I don't agree with @Lab3360 's assertion that no one wanted Companions (even if I'm personally in the group that isn't excited for them), but the bulk of your post that implies ZOS does listen to their community or that their decisions and implementations are beyond reproach just seems... I don't wanna say dishonest, but... I don't know. I do not think you're being intentionally dishonest, but is sure seems like a vital point was missed somewhere along the way. I can't articulate it super clearly at the moment, but I felt the need to counter. :P

(Please don't take any of this harshly or whatever; it was truly not meant as aggressive as it may sound.)


ZOS would do well to acknowledge their player base in a more meaningful way (and just plain more often), and a lot of us sure would appreciate if they participated in frank discussion as to the whys/hows/whatevers that go into what they do. The concerns the community continually have that go utterly ignored would be a lot more palatable if they just came out and said things like "We can't do X at this time because Y reasons make it impractical, unfortunately" or "Hey, that seems like an interesting idea! Maybe we'll discuss it internally to see how it could fit into our game! No promises, though." or anything even remotely similar to that. But they don't. They just leave us to shout at the wind, and seemingly do whatever they want. When people make comments like, "When will ZOS ever listen to their player base?!" that is the thing they're speaking to.

Zenzuki

Yes. I will use them regularly.

colossalvoids wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

Donavarion wrote: »

No, useless addition to the main game, not welcome at all.

I hope that with "not welcome at all" you only refer to yourself. There are plenty of others who are looking forward for the companions for different reasons (even when they migth be weak in battle in their current status).

Pretty sure he's referring to current 115 votes about companions being useless and not wanted by most of the same commenters.

To be honest there are more votes total in the other two categories of people who WILL use them regularly or sometimes than people who don't like/wont use them.

So still seems like the feature is more wanted then not. (But it's close)

Morgha_Kul

Sometimes. I will use them occasionally, while Questing, doing Overland content, fill missing player slots for Dungeons etc.

Honestly, the kind of companions I would want for my characters are more personal than combat.

For example, my Telvanni Sorceror, in my head canon, took a shine to Sergeant Seyne from Bleak Rock. If he could travel with her, or even have her in his home, that would be enough.

Similarly, my Breton Sorceror, a gruff, Gandalf type, took a shine to Crafty Lerisa. Other characters I have have had other liasons... all in my own head. It would be nice to have such encounters in the game, too.

I'm reminded of the romance plots from The Old Republic Online. I really enjoyed that material. It would be even better if we could choose whatever characters we liked for such things.

crazepdx

No. I do not find them useful at all.

Zenzuki wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

Donavarion wrote: »

No, useless addition to the main game, not welcome at all.

I hope that with "not welcome at all" you only refer to yourself. There are plenty of others who are looking forward for the companions for different reasons (even when they migth be weak in battle in their current status).

Pretty sure he's referring to current 115 votes about companions being useless and not wanted by most of the same commenters.

To be honest there are more votes total in the other two categories of people who WILL use them regularly or sometimes than people who don't like/wont use them.

So still seems like the feature is more wanted then not. (But it's close)

I want them. Was excited about them. The problem is how they are being implemented.
Consider this.
3 armor types, 9 traits, 3 levels of quality. 10 slots. Assuming 1 mob out of 20 drops a companion piece (the drop rate is much worse then this but play along). This gives you a 1 in 16,200 chance to get a purple quality item in the trait you want for each slot. Also these are rare world drops so you can't narrow down the search.

Additionally
Only guild daily quests upgrade guild skills, no books, no farming daedra, even running undaunted pledges for any other giver but Balrog doesn't advance.

Then going back to items, companions have 0 inventory. That means those items you are farming, they go in your inventory or bank.

Also items are non craftable so you have to farm for each companion. They are tradeable but being the way guild markets are, they won't be cheap.

Finally after you finally get it geared up and leveled, it's equivalent to the npc that sometimes tag along on quests. Stands in and dies in aoes and pulls adds with light attacks like a tank using taunt.

[snip]

[Edited to remove Bashing]

geschmonz

Yes. I will use them regularly.

Dear ZOS,

please remember that forums are mainly used by the most engaged (and most social) players.

I am sure there are a lot more solo players who never would voice their opinion on a forum like this.

Based on that, you really should implement more effort into companions, and make them useful for solo players to solo group content.

Groups should be optional, and not required. This is The Elder Scrolls online, with a focus on questing and role playing, and no MOBA, where everything is about competition and premade groups.

Thanks
s

Elsonso

Sometimes. I will use them occasionally, while Questing, doing Overland content, fill missing player slots for Dungeons etc.

geschmonz wrote: »

Based on that, you really should implement more effort into companions, and make them useful for solo players to solo group content.

I think that they will be useful for solo players in group content. What they will not be able to do is carry the player, and I think that is a big part of what some people will consider "useful" for solo players in group content. I do not think they should get anywhere near that level. ZOS probably agrees.

I've been playing a little with Mirri in Oblivion content as a ranged DPS. Today, she died one time. My character died twice, almost three times. It was hard to gauge exactly how useful she was, but I did notice that she attracted the attention of mobs, and that means they were not attacking my character. This allowed me to focus on and pick off mobs and it likely won me a battle or two. Would I have been able to do that without her? Not sure.

Mirri is level 4. My character is level 7, I think, and only had an amulet, and three pieces of armor earned from skipping the tutorial. I should not be able to solo the oblivion content with a low level single bar naked magplar that does not even have an ultimate and win any of those battles. That is a different issue.

colossalvoids

No. I do not find them useful at all.

Zenzuki wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

Donavarion wrote: »

No, useless addition to the main game, not welcome at all.

I hope that with "not welcome at all" you only refer to yourself. There are plenty of others who are looking forward for the companions for different reasons (even when they migth be weak in battle in their current status).

Pretty sure he's referring to current 115 votes about companions being useless and not wanted by most of the same commenters.

To be honest there are more votes total in the other two categories of people who WILL use them regularly or sometimes than people who don't like/wont use them.

So still seems like the feature is more wanted then not. (But it's close)

Reading comments gives me impression that most "will use" votes are fell for a marketing teams / zos stream words and have not tested them nor looked up others testing, the second vote option is pretty much a mix of both camps here reading their replies. Anyway they've seem pretty underwhelmed by the feature compared to the first ones.

I'm even pretty sure people who voted 3rd would eventually level companions up for a potion/chest passive if will buy the chapter later, but it's more about "should devs be happy with what they've accomplished and was it worth it in a performance department" I feel. Like I can't oppose feature that have zero affect on me personally, but currently it is and as a bonus it's a chapter without a feature for some of us which is pretty sad considering next chance to get something useful would be a year from now if we will stay with the game.

Iccotak

https://blog.playstation.com/2021/05/04/customizable-companions-come-to-the-elder-scrolls-online-next-month/

“With the Companions System, we wanted to provide our players with a new ally they can take on their adventures to provide companionship and combat support,” explains Rich Lambert, ESO’s Creative Director. “When adventuring with a Companion, we want our players to be more confident in experiencing everything Tamriel has to offer while also getting to know some unique and interesting characters.”

Not to dis on the hard work the devs did with creating the new companions - but wasn't a big part of Elder Scrolls coming Online that you could now adventure with friends?

That is what was said in the first gameplay trailer of ESO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHj5VvFWbtE

Never have our choice weighed more heavily. To stand alone - or side by side, against the encroaching forces...of Oblivion

If the overland is too easy though, and not challenging at all - or never puts players in a position to think about what they are doing - then players have very little reason to group together for the general questing experience. I don't see anyone going "Hey want to do this quest together?"
(That does not mean I am advocating for the forced grouping of Craglorn)

ZOS wants companions to give players a reason & confidence to try out dungeons with a friend and their companion - ok sounds interesting. However, Overland should, to some extent, also contribute to building a players confidence in taking on harder content, but how can they when that content does nothing to teach them how to play?

Sure the tutorial gives the basics but you never need to use the mechanics they teach to beat any story content. Is it any wonder we run into level 40-50 players in dungeons who don't understand the combat if Overland never asks the player to get better?

Because I think it should be concerning that a person who only does Overland questing can actually learn nothing about bashing, dodging, and staying out of the red spaces. I have seen that happen and have heard too many stories about it. So far, Overland does not encourage socializing (although it is better than it used to be) because things are just too simple and easy for anyone to want to work together unless it is specifically the group content like WBs and Dolmens.

What we have also found in beta - from ZOS' attempts to make companions Not as good as players is that they have made them VERY incompetent, because that is how low the bar is for skill in overland. Like many have asked "Overland is so easy why would I have a companion who needs help or can't even do their role properly?"

Maybe if Overland encouraged players to better their skill ZOS would have an excuse to raise the skill ability of NPCs and Companions - just a smidge.

Let us hope that the feedback in beta gives ZOS ample opportunity to tweak and fix things.

remosito

No. I do not find them useful at all.

Elsonso wrote: »

remosito wrote: »

Wise_Will wrote: »

Free meatshield for World Bosses

tried with all 6 wbs in shadowfen. Dead within seconds unless I heal like crazy. Wasting skill slots and resources...

What level and with what gear equipped?

boosted to max level. all purple gear. heavy plus swordnboard. 50/50 health/mitigation traits if I remember correctly. s/b might have been cooldown reduction.

pts chars got wiped monday. so cant check...

remosito

No. I do not find them useful at all.

omegatay_ESO wrote: »

BlackTearsOfHope wrote: »

I play Warden. I have my bear follow me around, even though I could play easily without it; as it really doesn't add much to the fight and gets killed a lot. I just like having a companion pet following around and helping what little it does. Same with companions, will do the same with it, when I get it.

I actually use my bear a lot. The bears help with overland trash, and public dungeons is noticeable. Although, his AI is dumb as all get out. So expecting companions to be better, I don't see it. I think companions is for players that want a companion, but don't want a bear, or monsters as pets.
I honestly don't really understand why zos did companions, and did them no better than what we already have.. *shrugs*

havent used my bear in a long time. maybe I just kept the rosy memories.

companions are way worse than bear. or any other pet.

Thechuckage

No. I do not find them useful at all.

Zenzuki wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

Donavarion wrote: »

No, useless addition to the main game, not welcome at all.

I hope that with "not welcome at all" you only refer to yourself. There are plenty of others who are looking forward for the companions for different reasons (even when they migth be weak in battle in their current status).

Pretty sure he's referring to current 115 votes about companions being useless and not wanted by most of the same commenters.

To be honest there are more votes total in the other two categories of people who WILL use them regularly or sometimes than people who don't like/wont use them.

So still seems like the feature is more wanted then not. (But it's close)

The polls here can hardly be used as an accurate representation of the population. Not even a extremely questionable politician would try to use the kinds of number generated here as an accurate assessment.

I say this in regards to things I advocate for as well. A couple hundred responses are supposed to cover the game pop.? Hardly. They can be fun for expressing your opinions none the less. Just not for gauging anything with remote accuracy.

Zenzuki

Yes. I will use them regularly.

Thechuckage wrote: »

The polls here can hardly be used as an accurate representation of the population. Not even a extremely questionable politician would try to use the kinds of number generated here as an accurate assessment.

I say this in regards to things I advocate for as well. A couple hundred responses are supposed to cover the game pop.? Hardly. They can be fun for expressing your opinions none the less. Just not for gauging anything with remote accuracy.

Of course. And I wasn't trying to claim so. Just answering colossals initial comment about the forum topic results with another perspective of the same.

The greater community of people playing ESO never even come to the forums and engage here and we that do can only speculate and make guesses on something like this based on purely anecdotal reasoning from what we perceive in game and polls like this of the engaged players on the forums.

We'll never really know what the overall community thinks of the companions other than how many we will eventually see (and even that is only what we as individuals will see). That says nothing of the bigger picture as a whole across platforms and timeframes.

ZOS will know though, as they have access to ALL the data . And if these aren't living up to their internal goals/expectations for whatever reason, you can bet we'll see tweaks to these things performance-wise, etc.

You know their ultimate goal is to have a cadre of different companions available in the CS yes? Wont be much of an attractive purchase if they're all but worthless.

Elsonso

Sometimes. I will use them occasionally, while Questing, doing Overland content, fill missing player slots for Dungeons etc.

Zenzuki wrote: »

You know their ultimate goal is to have a cadre of different companions available in the CS yes? Wont be much of an attractive purchase if they're all but worthless.

I am sure a number of people will buy companions whether they are useful or not. Get the right looks, the right race, the right picture in the Crown Store, and there are people who will plop down Crowns for a corpse that just lies there.

I have already noted the "Ken and Barbie" aspect to the companions. Like with Housing, this system is easily monetized. If you can give players enough room to dress them up and make them all purdy, it will be another Housing. Housing can have all sorts of limitations, both technical and in terms of usefulness, and people will still spend hours, and Crowns, fiddling with them. Odds are in favor of anyone who thinks ZOS already has plans along these lines for the next several quarters.

Ultimately, though, it is the development team that decides how powerful the companions will be, how effective they are, how much damage they do, and all of that game play related stuff. Their considerations are not (entirely) marketing driven. While they will not be worthless, as this defeats both marketing and gameplay goals, they will be limited.

Veinblood1965

Yes that way I can park them in front of all crafting stations and bankers along with my pets and be even more annoying. And please make them HUGE.

jlmurra2

I have been playing ESO since January 2017, and Blackwood is the first chapter I have not preordered.

I began playing Elder Scrolls games with Oblivion, so returning to locations in Cyrodiil is appealing to me, though I feel too much of this chapter relies on nostalgia. Cyrodiil, the Deadlands, a daedric cult, the treat of Mehrunes Dagon...sigh. I want something more original. There is so much great lore in Cyrodiil that could be explored, such as ayleids, minotaurs, colovian, and nebinese culture, the impact of the Alliance war, and the Coldharbour invasion/melding. I would be much more interested in a mundus realm exclusive story that focuses on the people of Cyrodiil, and how the events already occurring have effected their lives, and culture.

So companions seemed the only remaining feature of the chapter that might temp me. I have not played with companions on the PTS, though I have been watching videos of gameplay featuring them, and have been reading all the information I can find on them for the last few days.

I understand ZOS wants them not to be a replacement for other players, but I think they should be. I do think they should be as effective as a competent player, if possible scaled to the players effectiveness. I also want to be able to have more than one active. If I want three companions active, and that is how I choose to run four player dungeons, or other group content that should be my choice.

I agree they should not be in PVP areas.

As the companion system is in its current state they are useful, yet leave me with much desired. I will likely purchase Blackwood when the price drops significantly, and hope they continue to develop, and improve the system in future updates.

colossalvoids

No. I do not find them useful at all.

jlmurra2 wrote: »

I began playing Elder Scrolls game with Oblivion, so returning to locations in Cyrodiil is appealing to me, though I feel too much of this chapter relies on nostalgia. Cyrodiil, the Deadlands, a daedric cult, the treat of Mehrunes Dagon...sigh. I want something more original. There so much great lore in Cyrodiil that could be explored, such as ayleids, minotaurs, colovian, and nebinese culture, the impact of the Alliance war, and the Coldharbour invasion/melding. I would much more interested in a mundus realm exclusive story that focuses on the people of Cyrodiil, and how the events already occurring have effected their lifes, and culture.

Can't agree more.

Elvenheart

Yes. I will use them regularly.

Zenzuki wrote: »

Thechuckage wrote: »

The polls here can hardly be used as an accurate representation of the population. Not even a extremely questionable politician would try to use the kinds of number generated here as an accurate assessment.

I say this in regards to things I advocate for as well. A couple hundred responses are supposed to cover the game pop.? Hardly. They can be fun for expressing your opinions none the less. Just not for gauging anything with remote accuracy.

You know their ultimate goal is to have a cadre of different companions available in the CS yes? Wont be much of an attractive purchase if they're all but worthless.

I’ve actually been wondering about that. If we CAN buy Crown Store companions at some point, wouldn’t that mean they would be selling things that can help with damage, healing, and tanking, especially if companions get better? I would think that if they do this, they would only do it after a companion representing a certain class has already been put into the game for free, i.e., now that we have Bastien and Mirri, they could sell us Dragonknight and Nightblade companions with access to the exact same skills as the two companions we already have, making the Crown Store companions cosmetic/story upgrades only.

Goregrinder

Yes. I will use them regularly.

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

Lab3360 wrote: »

No one asked for companions ZOS.

Will you ever listen to your playerbase?

That's not true. Before companions were announced, it was not uncommon to see an occasional post from someone asking for the ability to recruit companions to help out.

ZOS does listen to their playerbase-- but listening to what people say, and acting on it, are different things.

The playerbase contains many voices, and it seems like most of them are saying opposite things.

Group A wants companions. Group B doesn't want companions.

Group C wants easier content. Group D wants harder content.

Group E wants werewolves to be stronger than vampires. Group F wants vampires to be stronger than werewolves.

Group G wants more PvP. Group H wants less PvP.

Group I wants sorcs to be nerfed. Group J wants sorcs to be buffed.

And so on, and so forth. There's no general consensus about what players want and don't want.

And for that reason, it's probably a very good thing that ZOS makes their own decisions about which requests to ignore and which to act upon, as well as what form that action will take.

Too many cooks in the kitchen trying to make decisions for the entire herd is always a bad thing. I'm also glad ZOS does what they think will make their game better based on the data they receive and analyze themselves.

Alinhbo_Tyaka

No. I do not find them useful at all.

I don't plan to use companion as I suspect that they will be nothing more than the nuisance that quest companions are. I hate the quest that have a companion or two or three join you to provide assistance. They are always getting in the way with blocking your view or access to objects. If companions came with some type of control UI where I could place them out of the way and could generate some distance between them and my character I might consider using them but until such time I see no reason to.

SeaGtGruff

I don't enjoy questing with companions in the single-player ES games, because I prefer to fight my own fights, they tend to get in my way, and I don't like it when they die. Shoot, if I'm running around Cyrodiil in TES4:Oblivion and see an Imperial guard fighting a beast or bandit, I'll try to help them win the battle and then heal them afterward.

For those reasons, I'm probably not going to be very inclined to quest with companions in ESO-- although the fact that I'll be able to resurrect them if they get killed is definitely a plus. But even though I'm probably not very inclined to make heavy use of them, I'm sure I'll still recruit them, cultivate their good will, level them up, and try to acquire decent equipment for them.

CSose

No. I do not find them useful at all.

I think companions are going to make things worse in most regards. Performance will take a dive even more than it already has. And towns where people do writs will look like there are twice as many people in them, and I'm guessing many a time there will be a companion blocking the bench or the turn in npc.

Additionally, focusing on companions is a distraction from fixing the performance issues that have been the number one problem with ESO for several years plus now. Companions are just a distraction and, in my opinion, insulting to those of us that have supported Zenimax so heavily all these years.

Blood_again

No. I do not find them useful at all.

I expected to do random dungeons duo with my partner using two companions. But companions don't fill the group slots for LFG when you queued. That was an unpleasant surprise.

They are also too weak for any trial or vet dungeon content. They are totally unnecessary for doing overland content. They don't participate in solo arenas and PvP (and, really, too weak for serious PvP and vet arenas).

So companions are simply useless for my partner's and my playstyle.

We'll hardly ever use them for any content. For some of their passives may be, but nothing else.

Linaleah

No. I do not find them useful at all.

Elsonso wrote: »

geschmonz wrote: »

Based on that, you really should implement more effort into companions, and make them useful for solo players to solo group content.

I think that they will be useful for solo players in group content. What they will not be able to do is carry the player, and I think that is a big part of what some people will consider "useful" for solo players in group content. I do not think they should get anywhere near that level. ZOS probably agrees.

I've been playing a little with Mirri in Oblivion content as a ranged DPS. Today, she died one time. My character died twice, almost three times. It was hard to gauge exactly how useful she was, but I did notice that she attracted the attention of mobs, and that means they were not attacking my character. This allowed me to focus on and pick off mobs and it likely won me a battle or two. Would I have been able to do that without her? Not sure.

Mirri is level 4. My character is level 7, I think, and only had an amulet, and three pieces of armor earned from skipping the tutorial. I should not be able to solo the oblivion content with a low level single bar naked magplar that does not even have an ultimate and win any of those battles. That is a different issue.

bolded. are you talking about overworld quests in new zone on pts? because if yes - you absolutely SHOULD be able to solo that content at your level. its kinda the point of the whole starting new characters in newest zone thing. new expansion is not designed to be harder then older content. its designed to be accessible to new player just getting into the game. you being able to solo it? is as intended. you are doing content that is meant for solo leveling player, NOT group content. that is no indication of companion helpfulness as this is the content that you should be able to do with or without companion.

now... world bosses on the other hand, or even public dungeon content. those are meant to be grouped for. especially something like public dungeon group event. yes, some people can solo them. and some need a group. companions were advertized for those times when you need a group, but don't have friends online or cannot find strangers in chat to do the group content with. companions weren;t supposed to carry you, but they were supposed to help and make a difference between being able and NOT being able to do that content. and... they are NOT making that difference. either they make it harder when you try to keep them alive and split your focus/lower your damage output. or they just die almost immediately and you end up soloing the content anyways.

this is why those of use who tested them beyond playing overland solo content - in content that they were actualy advertized for? are that unhappy. they do not replace a player in a dungeon in any way, unless its an afk player we are talking about and even then - they are just another afk player in a nutshell, since they die so fast unless you babysit them like crazy. they do not help to do world bosses or public dungeons etc when you cannot find a group for them. and they get unhappy when you loot a wrong thing.

they are, right now a very grindy means to get house guests and couple of passive buffs (you can have their buff to treasure chests active even when they are not, as long as you level them up to the point of unlocking a collectible for it). if that is ok with some of you? fair enough. my problem begins when people try to claim that they are actualy helpful with group content. no. they are not. either you can already solo it, or you STILL will not be able to solo it. they do not make a difference there at this time.

Elsonso

Sometimes. I will use them occasionally, while Questing, doing Overland content, fill missing player slots for Dungeons etc.

Linaleah wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Mirri is level 4. My character is level 7, I think, and only had an amulet, and three pieces of armor earned from skipping the tutorial. I should not be able to solo the oblivion content with a low level single bar naked magplar that does not even have an ultimate and win any of those battles. That is a different issue.

bolded. are you talking about overworld quests in new zone on pts? because if yes - you absolutely SHOULD be able to solo that content at your level. its kinda the point of the whole starting new characters in newest zone thing. new expansion is not designed to be harder then older content. its designed to be accessible to new player just getting into the game. you being able to solo it? is as intended. you are doing content that is meant for solo leveling player, NOT group content. that is no indication of companion helpfulness as this is the content that you should be able to do with or without companion.

No, I am talking about jumping into an oblivion gate in Blackwood, with no other players around. This is "public dungeon" content. If ZOS thinks that this content is intended to be done solo by a character that was created earlier this week, has no/poor armor, and doesn't even have a fully developed front bar...

(Edit: if we can be expected to solo the oblivion gate/deadlands content, then I shouldn't even need to bring a weapon to the delves. I generally don't do the delve content on PTS, but I should take Fenrald in there and see how he does on a naked run.)