😂 Bastain just tanked nCR+3 successfully

Starlight_Whisper

GreenHere wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

Jackey wrote: »

Oh wow, this actually restored some of my excitement for companions.

The forums made it sound like they would just die all the time.

This is why I always try to comment about my own personal experience with them, and then get called a 'companion fanboy' because I'm not all doom and gloom about them. Problem is, so many people don't know how to use them and expect them to do everything without being leveled and wearing all white gear. Then come to the forums and complain how bad they are, when in reality, it's the PLAYER themselves that's the problem... yet so many people read these complaints that they believe them, instead of actually LEARNING how to use the Companions properly. Level them, keep them at range early and give them many self-heals and defensive skills... once you get them to higher levels and give them better gear, you can begin learning what they can do with other roles. But always keep in mind, that until they are fully leveled and in all purple (best traited) gear, they will probably still need more self-healing and defensive skills than damage. Trying to run them in group/hard content too early, and yes, they will be disappointing... use a bit of common sense is what I'm saying. Realize that they're not meant to be 'fire and forget' pets, they are meant to be companions who take a LOT (weeks/months) of time to develop. Most people don't want to invest that kind of time, so they get returns that reflect their effort.

I mean, I get where you're coming from, but this is not at all a fair comparison. You must realize that.

Most of "us" who have criticisms about Companions' competence are referencing their inability to handle normal stuff without significant support from the player. As in, when it's just me and Bastian trying to tackle a World Boss or Normal Dungeon or something, I either have to focus way more heavily than I'd like on his survival, or I have to make sure I've got him set up to be overly specialized to survive things that are pretty dang simple for even a half-competent player. It's sorta burdensome & limiting -- and it's due almost entirely to their intelligence & durability (or lack thereof).

There's no way you can compare "average" use cases like that to this instance where a full raid team (presumably replete with two dedicated healers) were doing content they were familiar with and supporting the Companion in a major way. That's an enormously different scenario to be comparing or judging against.



Don't get me wrong; I think it's very cool that someone did this! But I'm not at all surprised this was doable. I'd have bet money it could be pulled off if asked beforehand, even though I'm one of the people who's got concerns about Comp's capabilities.

Companions do well enough if they have adequate attention/support keeping them going. The thing that bothers many of us is that if we want them to be along for the journey for the things we normally want to do, we have to almost totally focus on supporting them -- which kinda makes us feel more like their Companion.

After bragging 👀 all day, quite few people have used them in dungeons. I think biggest thing though is lvl 7 marker. I soloed a dolmen a lot easier with him at lvl 9ish.

In regards to support And attention, I have 6000 hours as pet sorc 👀 healer. So to me it felt very natural. In fact I was lose track of red head and he would just be fine as I got to lvl 10.

My only complaint though so far is I should be able to control when he breaks free of things. Some skill cool downs feel to long like provoke can only grab one thing to taunt. Also his health looks to low. I think Companion foods should be a thing.

xeNNNNN

six2fall wrote: »

Next see if he can do portals

Now that I would love to see.

GreenHere

ADarklore wrote: »

GreenHere wrote: »

I mean, I get where you're coming from, but this is not at all a fair comparison. You must realize that.

Most of "us" who have criticisms about Companions' competence are referencing their inability to handle normal stuff without significant support from the player. As in, when it's just me and Bastian trying to tackle a World Boss or Normal Dungeon or something, I either have to focus way more heavily than I'd like on his survival, or I have to make sure I've got him set up to be overly specialized to survive things that are pretty dang simple for even a half-competent player. It's sorta burdensome & limiting -- and it's due almost entirely to their intelligence & durability (or lack thereof).

There's no way you can compare "average" use cases like that to this instance where a full raid team (presumably replete with two dedicated healers) were doing content they were familiar with and supporting the Companion in a major way. That's an enormously different scenario to be comparing or judging against.



Don't get me wrong; I think it's very cool that someone did this! But I'm not at all surprised this was doable. I'd have bet money it could be pulled off if asked beforehand, even though I'm one of the people who's got concerns about Comp's capabilities.

Companions do well enough if they have adequate attention/support keeping them going. The thing that bothers many of us is that if we want them to be along for the journey for the things we normally want to do, we have to almost totally focus on supporting them -- which kinda makes us feel more like their Companion.

First you mention "World Boss" which are technically GROUP encounters, not solo-centric... so right from the start you are expecting them to tackle difficult content without being fully leveled and geared for difficult content.

Second, you say, "normal dungeons"... what is your definition of a normal dungeon? Because, as I've said in numerous threads, I have taken both of them through delves, public dungeons and dolmens and have NEVER had one die. So WHY am I, and many others not having problems, but you and so many others are? I go back to my oft used, "user error". You've even admitted that you expect them to be better than even a 'half-competent player' but they are not even meant to be player replacements. Additionally, a half-competent player would hopefully make sure they're leveled for content and equipped accordingly with the appropriate role... however, since YOU are making these decisions for them, well... I'm sure people know where I'm going with this.

With all due respect, you seem like you're kind of hellbent on not seeing where other people are coming from with their complaints & concerns with Companions. I'm not trying to tell you that you're wrong to like them or find them adequate for how you play -- I'm trying to provide insight as to why other people feel the way they do about Companions' performance & capabilities.

I don't really know what else to tell you... I'm glad they work well for you in the content that you enjoy. Truly. But I think maybe your idea of how they're supposed to be used is too narrow, and/or the margin of things you're labeling as user error is too wide.

If Companions are only meant to be used in the specific ways that you approve of, then they're not a very useful feature to a large portion of the player base. Hence all the complaints. You can call it user error all you like, but that doesn't change how useful or not Comps are to a lot of players just trying to play the game the way they usually do otherwise.

For the most part the people who seem to be perfectly happy with their performance appear to be those who expect very little from them; taking them through some the easiest content in the game, or being okay with providing them significant attention & support. Which is fine for those players. I'm not being sarcastic or disingenuous here; I'm happy that those people have a Companion they're happy with. I really am.

But many of us are having a hard time not feeling like our Comps are kind of a "third wheel" ... even though there's only two of us. ZOS missed the mark for us -- and it's not all our fault as you seem to think. If our Companions are only going to suit US if we specialize them heavily to meet very particular criteria, then that seems more like a design failing than a user one.

RedSwallow

ADarklore wrote: »

Second, you say, "normal dungeons"... what is your definition of a normal dungeon?

Usually, normal dungeon means "normal dungeon". As in the 4 people squad normal dungeon. Normal dungeon and then veteran dungeon.

biminirwb17_ESO

Just got my Bastion healer to Lv13 before the latest maintenance, was going to make him a tank but got a purple resto staff as my first companion gear drop (thanks rngeezus)

Makes a much better healer than many pug healers

Starlight_Whisper

update Bastian moved on into rockgrove

RedTalon

They are great really, just need a evil one or two, cause the two current ones are goodie goods but yes have only had miri die once and it was my fault for training a bunch of mobs in an area, the other one has never died thus far.,

But having to remember to dismiss them when doing thieves guild and dark brotherhood stuff is annoying at times. So we need one with less morals

Sidonius

I did normal fungal groto with bastion about five times the xp isn't great, I was hoping for gear drops from the bosses but only got one piece the entire time. At level 12, I attempted my first group delve in craglorn and kicked butt.