Companions - Your first impression on our new friends

RaddlemanNumber7

Some of Mirri's comments can be hilariously inappropriate:

We walk in on a murder scene. There's a dead body on the floor, not too far away from a cooking fire. Mirri's says, "I don't suppose anyone's got any cooking ingredients."

sheba021

They are fun to have. But nothing matters unless we get Rigurt as a companion.

aipex8_ESO

ADarklore wrote: »

I have seen in several companion threads of people complaining they 'don't survive hard fights'... and wonder why they do not realize that you can't expect a non-leveled, low level gear wearing companion to survive hard fights early on. Even on PTS, a fully leveled, purple gear equipped companion had a hard time, especially in VET content. I do believe they were buffed somewhat before launch though, because I never had a single death and I ran several dolmens and public dungeons yesterday. You can't expect them to be 'player replacements' especially in more difficult content. Also, much like a true companion, you have to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not being overwhelmed... funny though, how Mirri kept giving me advice during combat. LoL! Although she thanked me once when I popped a heal when she was being hit and I was across the room.

As for Bastian, I really love this character. Also, one time he said, "What have we here?" and I hadn't even noticed there was a heavy sack near us. However, I have read books in dungeons with both companions and never once noticed any type of approval from doing it. I didn't spend a lot of time questing with them, as I took them four times through each of the guild quests... I have six more characters to unlock them on today.

I was happy to see I received some blue and green gear from the dungeon runs, but no purple. I'm not sure if they are restricting purple drops to higher level bosses like world bosses or perhaps I've just been unlucky. Speaking of gear, someone posted that they noticed that traited companion gear is 'researchable', which gives me hope that they plan to eventually make it possible to craft companion gear. Perhaps they are waiting to see how much outrage they are going to get from the poor drops before making the decision to allow it or not.

I scored a purple resto staff yesterday in a normal delve.

ADarklore

aipex8_ESO wrote: »

I scored a purple resto staff yesterday in a normal delve.

That's awesome to hear! Glad to know that it's more of a 'very rare chance' than having purple only associated with high level bosses.

DMuehlhausen

I don't get the need for them...

If you couldn't solo certain dungeons before you still probably can't with them.

They get in the way, and as some have eluded pull the mobs around when they try to dodge.

For dungeons just getting a PuG or guild members is going to be so much more effecient still. This just seems like something that was tact on cause people miss companions from Skyrim.

Dragonredux

ADarklore wrote: »

I have seen in several companion threads of people complaining they 'don't survive hard fights'... and wonder why they do not realize that you can't expect a non-leveled, low level gear wearing companion to survive hard fights early on. Even on PTS, a fully leveled, purple gear equipped companion had a hard time, especially in VET content. I do believe they were buffed somewhat before launch though, because I never had a single death and I ran several dolmens and public dungeons yesterday. You can't expect them to be 'player replacements' especially in more difficult content. Also, much like a true companion, you have to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not being overwhelmed... funny though, how Mirri kept giving me advice during combat. LoL! Although she thanked me once when I popped a heal when she was being hit and I was across the room.

As one the people complaining about the survivability of the companions. I agree and disagree your statement. Me personally did not expect these companions to function at a vet level. I did expect them to be competent to beat all the normal dungeons at purple gear with ideal traits. I did not get that, what i got was an inconsistent tank, a <10k dps, and an average healer. This without counting them dying in AoEs.
When i took Bastion to a dragon for a tank test. I didn't expect him to live long or the entire time but more than 1-2 attacks at the very least.
If ZoS buffed them behind the scene when launch happened, great! But honestly not too keen on that seeing 5 dead companions and 0 dead players after an oblivion portal final boss. I don't expect these companions to be competent at a vet level never did, leave that for the players, but I do want to have the feeling that if we are down a person and can't fill a spot that the companions at least be valued and not just a meat shield.

Like I don't hate them, they just don't improve anything that I wasn't already doing.

Wolf_Eye

GreenHere wrote: »

Eccentric_Vampire wrote: »

I don't have much to go off other than pictures but neither of them really appeal to me. I hope they add more companions in the future, I really want a mage or scholar companion.

I'm hoping for some kind of eccentric vampire type of Companion. One who maybe takes perverse delight when my evil characters do evil things, instead of these finicky, judge-y mother-in-law types we got first go around.

Also really hoping for a dumb-as-a-brick Companion that really likes it when you Bash things in the face, or something like that. I've always wanted to play a "Me am ANGRY! ME SMASH!!" type character for some reason, but there's little incentive to play that way currently.

I liked the vampire and the dunmer lady in Bastian's quest. I got the distinct impression that, while the vampire's friendly to YOU *(because you could open the cage), he's not necessarily a good person. He already admitted to murdering one of the cultists for a snack thinking they were just a bunch of regular nobles with an unusual fetish for Sithis. Also, he already mentioned he was there to appeal to Sithis for answers about vampirism. Sithis, of all deities. Not the sort of thing a good person would do.

He seemed interesting too. More interesting than the usual side NPCs. Same with the dunmer; she had some real FUNNY lines, and clearly she has no qualms about doing some shadowy business. And I wonder if they were setting us up to have him as a companion in the future. I wouldn't mind having either or both of them so that we could have a set of companions that are more stealy/murdery oriented.

mickeyx

Lugaldu wrote: »

Just took Bastian (Level 6, only equipped with the white gear and staff) to Spindleclutch 1 and it was fine, he only died once with the Swarm Mother. Together with Clannfear, Twilight and Storm Atronach we were a pretty good team. So, at the moment I would not say that companions are totally weak and useless. I like them.

Play on a class with companion that doesn't has any pets to assist with fights then come back and tell us the same.

MajThorax

Companions are unnecessary. Devs could have used the time and resources for something else.

Lugaldu

MajThorax wrote: »

Companions are unnecessary. Devs could have used the time and resources for something else.

Com´on, ZOS can't please everyone and there are and will be a lot of people that enjoy the companions, me included. They bring a breath of fresh air into the game.

RupzSkooma

MajThorax wrote: »

Companions are unnecessary. Devs could have used the time and resources for something else.

Not being an Altholic, only thing useless for me is a new class.

SilverBride

MajThorax wrote: »

Companions are unnecessary.

So are outfits and costumes and pets and housing... If we only had what was absolutely necessary to play, this would be one dull game.

etchedpixels

sheba021 wrote: »

They are fun to have. But nothing matters unless we get Rigurt as a companion.

I so want one of the spare Stibbons, they about as useful as a companion and more fun.

TelvanniWizard

Mirri dared to say that we are partners and that I'm useful. Offensive is to say it short. She dies constantly, and is no more than a unuseful pet. My character has fought gods and saved continents, Mirri could be a partner to gim no more than an ant is equal to an elephant. I only keep her around to rp a Telvanni slave/hireling and to unlock the houseguest, but her chater is preposterous!

Rhaena

Currently I am loving the companions, though increasing rapport seems to be a crawl and I wish it was more frequent. I also wish we could customize their hairstyles so give more visual variety vs everyone elses companion.

ADarklore

Dragonredux wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

I have seen in several companion threads of people complaining they 'don't survive hard fights'... and wonder why they do not realize that you can't expect a non-leveled, low level gear wearing companion to survive hard fights early on. Even on PTS, a fully leveled, purple gear equipped companion had a hard time, especially in VET content. I do believe they were buffed somewhat before launch though, because I never had a single death and I ran several dolmens and public dungeons yesterday. You can't expect them to be 'player replacements' especially in more difficult content. Also, much like a true companion, you have to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not being overwhelmed... funny though, how Mirri kept giving me advice during combat. LoL! Although she thanked me once when I popped a heal when she was being hit and I was across the room.

As one the people complaining about the survivability of the companions. I agree and disagree your statement. Me personally did not expect these companions to function at a vet level. I did expect them to be competent to beat all the normal dungeons at purple gear with ideal traits. I did not get that, what i got was an inconsistent tank, a <10k dps, and an average healer. This without counting them dying in AoEs.
When i took Bastion to a dragon for a tank test. I didn't expect him to live long or the entire time but more than 1-2 attacks at the very least.
If ZoS buffed them behind the scene when launch happened, great! But honestly not too keen on that seeing 5 dead companions and 0 dead players after an oblivion portal final boss. I don't expect these companions to be competent at a vet level never did, leave that for the players, but I do want to have the feeling that if we are down a person and can't fill a spot that the companions at least be valued and not just a meat shield.

Like I don't hate them, they just don't improve anything that I wasn't already doing.

Then perhaps these are not for you... as many players are using them as a 'companion' to tag along with quests and just generally be something to assist with the mindless questing (after you've played many years and have several alts, it does become mindless).

I watched HTM on Youtube do an Oblivion portal with Mirri as a tank, and the ONLY time she died was at the final boss. Yeah, standing in AOE is problematic, and unfortunately the 'command' to recall them isn't fast enough. But I also wonder, what type of gear were they running, level, skills, etc? The one thing I learned when running Squadrons in FFXIV, was that many of the people complaining about them not being functional, it was simply 'user error'. Because I could run my Squadrons through all the dungeons they could run, run with multiple roles, and was always successful- because I learned how to build and equip them properly and always micromanaged them with commands. Or perhaps with Companions, because I don't expect them to be a 'fire and forget' pet and instead treat them as a companion who sometimes needs help and sometimes helps us, I pay attention to them and assist them as necessary. I think far too many people are so used to having a single-minded focus that they aren't used to having to worry about other players... so they do their thing and expect healer and tank to do theirs... but with Companions, we DO have to help them even if they're a tank or healer. Especially since they tend to draw aggro from bosses, which is NOT acceptable unless they're a tank!! I mean, players are dropping huge amount of damage, but who does the boss focus on, the one doing the least amount of damage. ZOS definitely needs to fix this aspect of them as well.

LoneStar2911

I said this in another thread, but it fits here, too.

I think the downsides/cons of having the companions summoned is too much. They block objects, you lose rapport just by doing normal gameplay things... Ugh. They feel like a chore.

Dojohoda

SammyKhajit wrote: »

Great feedback on Bastion... May this one also ask what the chest motif your character has?

Dojohoda wrote: »

I'm not on the game at the time of typing this, but I believe that chest piece is the new Deadlands Gladiator Outfit Style.

I am back to confirm that this chest piece is indeed from the new Deadlands Gladiator Outfit Style. It is the Medium weight chest. I used the Deadlands Gladiator Outfit Style for the legs and feet as well and those are Heavy weight. The Deadlands Gladiator Outfit Style was included with the collector's edition digital upgrade.

SantieClaws

The feedback of this one:

They need to be able to use hats and masks cosmetically. The only way this one can tell her own Mirri from her many clones is that we are wearing similar colours.

Rapport is going to be quite the grind isn't it ... Even for just one character. Forget it for the other 17. At least levelling is shared.

So far this one has had exactly one piece of companion gear drop. It was a belt.

We need an entertaining and thoughtful Khajiit as a companion option.

This one chose to adventure with a grumpy elf. That is how appealing Bastian is.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Luke_Flamesword

Why there is attack of the clones with companions? Before release devs talked about special system used in some quest to replace other players companions with random NPC. It's bugged or not implemented at all?

Ashtaris

They are OK, but I'll never depend on them to defend me, that's for sure. I can kill most NPC's in just a couple of seconds or so, but if I stand back and let Mirri do the fight I can take a nap before she gets the job done. So for me, they are mainly for decoration and a pet. And really, it's too much of a grind. I've done several of the World Bosses and Oblivion Portals, multiple times, and not one single piece of Companion gear. If this keeps up, I can see my interest in companions coming to an end fairly soon.

Nebs

I really love the companions system, and the new area is lovely. The Oblivion portals around the area were interesting and fun.

I haven't gotten Bastian yet, but I was really uncomfortable that Mirri was painted as this non-racist. Notably, she was celebrated by the old and weary Argonian woman, but then Mirri loves seeing Goblins killed. She even addresses Goblins using a proper noun (when discussing how they make her wretch), they're a race of people, ones who are shown to be sentient and sapient in the game on numerous occasion.

It's really unfortunate, because she seems like a really interesting character. I just don't want to happen to kill a Goblin and have to hear her relish someone dying because of what they are.

Red_Feather

I really like it!

But... now everyone has a red-haired guy standing next to them.
Maybe we can temporarily get helmets for them until more companions become available!

wolfie1.0.

Personally, right now companions are not in a good spot. They get in your way of regular interactions. they require four types of grinding to maximize your results (level grind, Gear Grind, Guild/weapon grind, and Rapport Grind). The level grind isn't too bad since i was able to get one companion up to level 7 in 3ish hours of play and levels are account wide. same with the skill grinds. Gear is going to be a pain. got 1 item after a dozen or so potential drops. Rapport is going to be the annoying one.

Lets talk about rapport, I seriously want to report the rapport mechanic for harassment and trolling. First, ZOS has done the typical thing of not quantifying exactly how much rapport is gained/lost with each action. Second, they haven't disclosed exactly what the "limits" are on how much each is. I find it rather insulting that they go into the item set patch notes so deeply that they change a skill by 2 stamina, and THAT makes it into the Patch Notes, But the numerics behind a new system like companions doesn't warrant such attention. its a here this is yall figure it out now thing.

Add to that the sheer annoyance of the system. Bugs ZOS? really? do you NOT realize HOW MANY BUGs there are in your game? And no NOT the computer bugs, its the torch bugs etc, those things that you accidently select when you go to use a wayshrine, loot a plant, chest etc. and for Mirri the amount of Rapport you lose seems to offset your Rapport by quite a bit. either that or my progress bar is damaged. because after having over 20 positive rapport increases including a few achievements that are supposed to boost it. and offset by 5 accidental bug grabs my rapport has NOT moved since recruitment. i would gladly display how much rapport was gained/lost with each interaction. but i have no idea since i can't quantify anything. I can't even tell if the ui is bugged, mirri is bugged, the system is bugged, or ESO is, and it bugs me.

the other annoyance is that unlike all of the other TES games with companions. ESO companions have no inventory slots. they can only carry what is equipped to them. thats it. while they probably shouldn't be glorified pack mules they should at the very least be able to carry and store companion grade gear. I definitely shouldn't have to do that myself.

outside of that, they are hard to control, die in combat, subpar at everything. To put it simply they fail at almost everything except providing occasional dialogue (repeated mind you) and as a way to use more outfit and mount combination options.

TL;DR i would trade both companions as they currently exist for 2 more slots to place mounts in my home and mannequins that i could place Outfit Styles on.

Alinhbo_Tyaka

fiender66 wrote: »

Altaire wrote: »

Do companions get in you way like combat pets?

Definitely they do

This is what I thought would happen. I play a pet class which stay too close and get in the way. It becomes a real mess when the quest adds a quest companion which is what I assumed the new Companions would be like.

grizzledcroc

I think its a great addition to really cement more rpg stuff into this , I really do hope they open up option for helms though and maybe hair styles!

Dragonredux

ADarklore wrote: »

Dragonredux wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

I have seen in several companion threads of people complaining they 'don't survive hard fights'... and wonder why they do not realize that you can't expect a non-leveled, low level gear wearing companion to survive hard fights early on. Even on PTS, a fully leveled, purple gear equipped companion had a hard time, especially in VET content. I do believe they were buffed somewhat before launch though, because I never had a single death and I ran several dolmens and public dungeons yesterday. You can't expect them to be 'player replacements' especially in more difficult content. Also, much like a true companion, you have to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not being overwhelmed... funny though, how Mirri kept giving me advice during combat. LoL! Although she thanked me once when I popped a heal when she was being hit and I was across the room.

As one the people complaining about the survivability of the companions. I agree and disagree your statement. Me personally did not expect these companions to function at a vet level. I did expect them to be competent to beat all the normal dungeons at purple gear with ideal traits. I did not get that, what i got was an inconsistent tank, a <10k dps, and an average healer. This without counting them dying in AoEs.
When i took Bastion to a dragon for a tank test. I didn't expect him to live long or the entire time but more than 1-2 attacks at the very least.
If ZoS buffed them behind the scene when launch happened, great! But honestly not too keen on that seeing 5 dead companions and 0 dead players after an oblivion portal final boss. I don't expect these companions to be competent at a vet level never did, leave that for the players, but I do want to have the feeling that if we are down a person and can't fill a spot that the companions at least be valued and not just a meat shield.

Like I don't hate them, they just don't improve anything that I wasn't already doing.

Then perhaps these are not for you... as many players are using them as a 'companion' to tag along with quests and just generally be something to assist with the mindless questing (after you've played many years and have several alts, it does become mindless).

I watched HTM on Youtube do an Oblivion portal with Mirri as a tank, and the ONLY time she died was at the final boss. Yeah, standing in AOE is problematic, and unfortunately the 'command' to recall them isn't fast enough. But I also wonder, what type of gear were they running, level, skills, etc? The one thing I learned when running Squadrons in FFXIV, was that many of the people complaining about them not being functional, it was simply 'user error'. Because I could run my Squadrons through all the dungeons they could run, run with multiple roles, and was always successful- because I learned how to build and equip them properly and always micromanaged them with commands. Or perhaps with Companions, because I don't expect them to be a 'fire and forget' pet and instead treat them as a companion who sometimes needs help and sometimes helps us, I pay attention to them and assist them as necessary. I think far too many people are so used to having a single-minded focus that they aren't used to having to worry about other players... so they do their thing and expect healer and tank to do theirs... but with Companions, we DO have to help them even if they're a tank or healer. Especially since they tend to draw aggro from bosses, which is NOT acceptable unless they're a tank!! I mean, players are dropping huge amount of damage, but who does the boss focus on, the one doing the least amount of damage. ZOS definitely needs to fix this aspect of them as well.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I don't find them useless, Bastion still has nice buff for my heavy attack magplar at the end of the day, and some help is better than no help. Just started FFXIV a few weeks ago, don't know what Squadrons are yet but sounds interesting enough.

Also like I said, them being tanks are inconsistent. Sometimes they do well, sometimes they forget they have a block and die from a heavy attack. I'm not going to claim that I know how to build them since this is entirely new but on the PTS I did try to give them traits that made the most sense at least like Health and Damage Reduction on a tank build and such. Also maybe it's just me with this, but I really feel the taunts shouldn't have a long cooldown (S&B being 12 sec, and Inner Fire being 36 sec), it's another pain point of mine.

Also I know healing aggro is a thing in this game, perhaps one of their abilities is doing some form of healing like I know they get entropy later in the Mage's Guild.

MercilessnVexed

Lord ZoS, just gimme one who is in league with the Dark Brotherhood so I don't upset them when I kill an npc!!

ADarklore

wtlonewolf20 wrote: »

outside of that, they are hard to control, die in combat, subpar at everything. To put it simply they fail at almost everything except providing occasional dialogue (repeated mind you) and as a way to use more outfit and mount combination options.

TL;DR i would trade both companions as they currently exist for 2 more slots to place mounts in my home and mannequins that i could place Outfit Styles on.

So exactly WHAT content are you having them in that they are dieing so much? Because I'm running public dungeons, dolmens, delves, etc... and have yet to have one die. Group dungeons? How do you have them specced? Because if some people have so many problems with them, and yet others do not... I'm thinking 'user error'. Because NO, until they are fully leveled with full purple gear, they should never be put in a melee role... and even fully leveled, they have limited skills with cooldowns... which means they will require additional player assistance in harder content. They should also be specced with mostly self-healing and defensive skills until they are fully leveled, there is a reason why they have access to so many of them.

I just can't help but feel far too many people are thinking companions are going to be player replacements with massive damage and survivability... but this is NOT a single player game... which is why in reality, Companions are meant to be more for role players and soloists than high end group players. These people also cannot accept that player leveling, gear grind, etc... is meant to take place over MONTHS, not have them maxed the first week or two. So they get frustrated that Companions won't do what THEY expected or wanted, so then they blame the devs or companions instead of... 'user error'.

Sarannah

Just had a rapportdecrease on Bastian while doing a provisioning craftingdaily. This should NOT happen! Regular gameplay should not cause rapportdecreases.