New companions, ability speculation

phaneub17_ESO

Khajiit: Ember, with a lightning staff in the picture so it could be hinting at her being a Sorcerer. Now unlike players, companion skills are generally short burst with cast times so I don't expect her to have permanent pets like players would, but will have a couple short-term pet abilities. I expect her racial passive to be something like "Critical Strike chance increased by 3% and Ability/Debuff duration increased by 3%" to encourage players to using traits other than Quickened or Aggressive by having an extra boost to those type of traits to start.

Daedric Summoning:
Clannfear pet, Daedric Curse variant, Conjured Ward or Bound Armor, Ultimate - Flame Atronach: Right off the bat I think she'll get a Clannfear pet that summoned at her side then leaps at her target like enemy mob clannfear do that last 8 seconds then despawns. There aren't many other abilities here that work for companions, Daedric Curse is a toss up with its delayed damage that even the player version sometimes doesn't go off until a target is already dead, I suspect her version may have a snare effect while active on the target before the explosion. Her Conjured Ward would be a save my butt skill that doesn't cast unless her health drops below 50-75% it'll also be something similar to Empowered Ward or Ward Ally, casting a shield on herself and a close ally/you. Alternatively I can see her with a Bound Armor type instead of Conjured Ward if its too much like Bastian's Basalt Barrier, a short term self buff that reduces damage taken by 20% and gives her a damage boost as well. Her Ultimate, based on her name, is probably a greater Flame Atronach maybe it rapid fires firebolts, maybe it attacks multiple targets, and explodes dealing AOE damage when it dies/expires.

Dark Magic:
Crystal Blast, Shattering Prison or Rune Cage, Dark Exchange variant: I see them likely bringing Crystal Blast back not as a player's ability, but for the companion just without the Stun bonus so its a 1 second cast that does damage to her main target and splash damage to nearby foes. Either of the immobilizing spells could work, but I think they'll go with Shattering Prison type like Bastian's Crushing Claws (Dark Talons). Dark Exchange would be a no brainer, one of those save my butt abilities cast when falling =< 25% recovering health and probably a Quickened effect for reduced ability cooldown component since they have no use for magicka/stamina recovery; it would speed up all their abilities recovery for 8 seconds, but only activates when in dire need.

Storm Calling:
Mage's Fury, Lightning Form, Bolt Escape: This tree would be plain and simple, really. A staple ST attack with a Mage's fury type. Lightning Form for tanking and self cast buff like Razor Cape. Bolt Escape type to address the issue of Roll Dodge, that way she stays relatively close to melee range when first rolling away backwards then bursting forward instead of going backwards again while Roll Dodge is on cooldown, especially if given a ranged weapon.

francesinhalover

Does the clanfear look like the one we have?

I think shes a necromancer and the breton a templar.

Sorc for ember is possible but really hard. What could the ulti even be?

InaMoonlight

I must admit, i still really hope she's a warden (like my main *derpy snortgrin*)

phaneub17_ESO

If she were a Necromancer, that would be easy to figure out as well. Because you won't be able to control when they decide to use abilities that would normally be criminal for players, companion abilities will not trigger criminal charges in front of NPCs. Her passives wouldn't be any different from what I suggested earlier and benefits this class as well. Now let's look at their possible abilities.

Bone Tyrant:
Death Scythe, Bone Armor, Bone Totem, Ultimate - Bone Goliath. Let's start with the Ultimate, the other two unfortunately requires target ranged ground something that companion's AI script is unable to handle, all of their abilities are direct targeting, self cast, or is a ground slam which doesn't need targeting just that something is in range as a prerequisite. That leaves Bone Goliath as the only variant option for a Necromancer companion. Death Scythe activates when something is in melee range and is their focused target (will roll dodge first if using a ranged weapon), Bone Armor is a no brainer for a defensive move and corpse generator. Then it can be either Totem or Grasp, but more likely leaning on Totem for a simplistic AOE CC like Mirri's Masque of Torment.

Grave Lord:
Flame Skull, Skeletal Mage*, Shocking Siphon: What, no Blastbones? Nope unfortunately, while it fits their AI script I don't see them getting two non-Ultimate summons in the same skill line, that doesn't mean they won't get their own summon Shade as well, seems rather unfair huh. Flame Skull would be their staple ST attack like Crag Smash, Life Absorption, or Mage's Fury type above. Skeletal Warrior* would be her only summons for this skill line, much like the Clannfear or even Blastbones... It would be summoned by her side then charges at her enemy and fights in melee for 8 seconds. Shocking Siphon type ability does work for companion's AI script as it just requires a corpse within range of the self cast, they could change its functionality for companions to work like Templar's Repentance but with a target limit of 1 so the target corpse would be semi-random. Have fun trying to lead them around so the chain hits enemies in its path.

Living Death:
Render Flesh, Spirit Mender*, Restoring Tether: Render Flesh is an easy one as its a ground slam, hopefully it works better than Mending Incantation (Blessing of Protection) as it has target issues like casting when an enemy is in range instead of a friendly target; I don't know if they fixed that, I haven't slotted that ability since I found that out. Summon Phantom* or maybe a Wisp Mother so it has significant difference from a player's ghost, I don't think it will do a channeled heal though maybe a burst heal cast every 2 seconds for 8 seconds. Restoring Tether works just like Shocking Siphon, good luck getting yourself between the chain to get healed, they're going to target a close corpse so the chain will be short and they tend to follow you around so getting in it will be problematic.

phaneub17_ESO

Okay let's look at Isobel now and her two possible choices, by her description she could be a Templar. As far as what her racial passives will be, I can see her with "Reduced damage taken by 3% and reduced ability cooldown by 3%" seems about right. Now onto the possible abilities.

Aedric Spear:
Puncturing Strikes, Focused Charge, Sun Shield: Every ability in this skill line except Spear Shards would work since its a ranged target ground ability and their AI doesn't work with those kind of abilities. Puncturing Strikes works the same as Swift Assault (Flurry) just with more targets struck in its path. There should always be an opportunity for a gap closer as they are in short supply so a Focused Charge variant is a must have, maybe her version blinds (cc/fear) other nearby enemies on impact with her target. Sun Shield as is works for companions, providing aoe damage and a self damage shield. Piercing Javelin could work too, it adds a ranged option and it would be like a ST ranged staple attack such as Crag Smash or Life Absorption, but they only have 3 options so I went with the most likely with a melee oriented skill line.

Dawn's Wrath:
Sun fire or Solar Flare, Backlash or Eclipse, Radiant Destruction: All abilities in this skill line could be potentially used for companions, there isn't anything here that wouldn't work with their AI script. Sun Fire or Solar Flare for their staple ST ranged attack over Piercing Javelin, either could work but I don't see them getting both. I would lean more towards Sun Fire as it has a bonus damage over time factor; however, Solar Barrage morph variant could be used like Razor Cape. Backlash or Eclipse not both, either utility spell could work though I would put my money on Eclipse or more specifically Living Dark morph variant as a defensive spell for tanking purposes. Backlash even a toned down version, everyone would end up using it, its free damage and while that sounds like a good thing, it would limit companion builds further imo. Radiant Destruction I can see them using this no problem, the only caveat I see though is they may turn it into an Execute type like Slayer's Blade or Sever, where it only casts when a target has fallen below 25% health.

Restoring Light:
Rushed Ceremony or Healing Ritual, Cleansing Ritual, Rune Focus, Ultimate - Rite of Passage: either one of the heals would work, I'm leaning more on Healing Ritual since its an AOE heal so you can be anywhere and receive it whereas Rushed Ceremony is frontal only. Cleansing Ritual or Ritual of Retribution without the Debuff remover, I'd say Ritual of Retribution so there's at least one damaging ability in this skill line, but extra healing is always a bonus. Rune Focus with just the increased resists and healing factor, it be like Ritual of Salvation, but only for herself and another tank oriented ability. Either Radial Sweep or Rite of Passage could work as her Ultimate; however, I thought maybe there's already enough Ultimate abilities that are damage oriented. Bastian's is a shortened version of Dragon Knight Standard and Mirri's is a ranged Death Stroke, why not give Isobel a healing Ultimate to balance it out?