I hope Isolbel isn't just Bastian 2.0..

Arato

I really tire of Bastian's lame "quips" but I need a good tank companion and Mirri can't really hang.
so I have some hopes for Isobel.. but I'm worried that she'll be the same choir boy (but this time just a choir girl) personality that Bastian is

NotaDaedraWorshipper

I like Bastian a lot, but I hope the next companions aren't Bastian or Mirri 2.0 because that would be very boring. I want the companions to vary.... I also don't want them to avoid lawful good companions because some people don't like Bastian.

AcadianPaladin

There's a difference between lawful good and lawful stupid. My good elf meant to talk to a shopkeeper and accidently grabbed a red potion. Bastion yelled at her. On another occasion, they were in a big fight and it seems some non hostile squirrel or spider got killed. Bastion yelled at her. So she fired him. Permanently.

Mirri works much better in this regard - but only because I have an add on that disables interacting with torchbugs and butterflies. As far as accidental theft, when my elf grabbed some red item by mistake, an NPC attacked her. Mirri instantly killed the NPC. Cost a big bounty but Mirri's steadfast loyalty is well worth it.

My point is that I sure hope any rapport-dropping quirks new companions have are tied to conscious actions by the player, not misclicks or poor targeting.

washbern

Could use a chaotic evil one that would randomly kill an npc while you idle in town

phaneub17_ESO

I steal in front of Bastian purposefully. Mostly to do it as a rapport balancer, I don't want to max out his rapport as I find his extra potions more annoying than useful and don't want that effect active when he's not around or worse account wide. The hope here is that the new companions have something decent as their passive bonus trait like Mirri gives free gold, sometimes furnishing recipes, and rarely blue or even purple vendor loot.

My bet is that Ember be something like bonus finds when looting enchanting nodes or psijic portals, maybe Isobel has a minor damage reduction by 5% buff. Something I want to work towards when their freshness wear out and they're just another body following you.

MJ202

Arato wrote: »

I really tire of Bastian's lame "quips" but I need a good tank companion and Mirri can't really hang.

Surprising observation. Between the two I've found Mirri better able to hang in there. It likey comes down to how Bastian and Mirri are equipped and spec'd out. I have both set up as healers to better help keep my health up, allowing me to focus a little more on offense. With this configuration, Bastian seems to go down more often than Mirri.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

My point is that I sure hope any rapport-dropping quirks new companions have are tied to conscious actions by the player, not misclicks or poor targeting.

This so much. Make them good, make them evil, just don’t make them yell at me for something I have little or no control over. Otherwise it’s just the game punishing me for something the game did.

Fennwitty

I certainly dislike Bastian but killing small animals does not actually impact your rapport with him.

He just complains about it.

SilverBride

I'll never find out because I don't intend to level either. I'm more than a little disappointed that we didn't get a strong male companion this time.

Arato

MJ202 wrote: »

Arato wrote: »

I really tire of Bastian's lame "quips" but I need a good tank companion and Mirri can't really hang.

Surprising observation. Between the two I've found Mirri better able to hang in there. It likey comes down to how Bastian and Mirri are equipped and spec'd out. I have both set up as healers to better help keep my health up, allowing me to focus a little more on offense. With this configuration, Bastian seems to go down more often than Mirri.

Well I have Mirri set up as a healer because I found her to not be a very effective tank, but I don't really use her I find because self heals are better than anything the companions can do.
Reason why Mirri doesn't make an effective tank compared to Bastian is because Bastian has the Drake's Blood skill, which combines a % max health (and I have him all in purple vigorous gear, so that's 10k) based heal, and 20% damage reduction for 8s and it has pretty good uptime, he could theoretically have it up 2/3 of the time he's tanking, combined with the 3% extra max health to make that heal stronger. That's combined into 1 single skill, so he has room on his bar for the ritual of protection skill, both taunts, and on guard (also taking advantage of his 3% health bonus and all the vigorous gear)

In comparison, Mirri's big % health self heal is triggered at a lower health threshold (50% instead of Bastian's 75%), causes her to drop aggro for 3s because she goes invis (and the whole point of why I want a tank companion is so that I can flank things like world bosses I might be forced to solo and group challenges in public dungeons if nobody else is around, I don't want enemies facing me as I'll do less damage to them than if I was flanking while a tank held their attention), does not give damage reduction (instead giving the stealth), has a longer cooldown, and she has a separate skill for damage reduction, meaning she can't have both taunts, on guard, and ritual of protection so something has to give.

On the flip side, Mirri does have more heals that makes her a "better" healer, than Bastian's single heal skill that he can apply to other people that is limited to when you're under 75% health, he does have a tiny shield he can give you instead I guess., and he can buff damage which I guess if you don't actually need him to heal you, that can be better.

So mechanically, I prefer to use Bastian... but personality wise, I want him to stuff a sock in it and I wish I could cover his ugly mug with a helmet.

Arato

SilverBride wrote: »

I'll never find out because I don't intend to level either. I'm more than a little disappointed that we didn't get a strong male companion this time.

woulda been nice if they'd kept to having 1 male 1 female companion.. but.. I'm less concerned with their genders than their personalities and usefulness.
Afterall, they're not romancable so that part really doesn't matter so much. I just don't like the pseudo-"deep" "quips" Bastian repeats.

Someday I hope we get some Street Tough Nord or Orc tanky companion His personality can just be "unga bunga smash" That'll be good enough.

SydneyGrey

Which reminds me ... I was being attacked by a gargoyle yesterday and killed a beetle accidently while this giant stone monster was trying to smash my face in, and Bastian made some negative comment about me killing a beetle, something like "was that really necessary" or similar. SHUT UP BASTIAN.
They need to have an option to turn off their comments completely.

I'm looking forward to the new companions, but yeah, getting tired of having to de-summon them every time I need to loot a thieves trove (in Bastian's case) or blade someone in the back.

spartaxoxo

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

There's a difference between lawful good and lawful stupid. My good elf meant to talk to a shopkeeper and accidently grabbed a red potion. Bastion yelled at her. On another occasion, they were in a big fight and it seems some non hostile squirrel or spider got killed. Bastion yelled at her. So she fired him. Permanently.

How is Bastian supposed to know that the player didn't mean to steal? In universe your character stole some items, and the lawful good character didn't like that. Perfectly reasonable imo. Anyone who doesn't like that either doesn't want to play with a lawful good companion or just expects too much from AI imo. From a characterization standpoint I mean rather than a gameplay one.

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

My point is that I sure hope any rapport-dropping quirks new companions have are tied to conscious actions by the player, not misclicks or poor targeting.

As to your second point, there is an option to disable stealing items that are placed so that you can only steal them deliberately. Bastian honestly has the most deliberate action taken rapport loss without the use of add-ons of the two of them imo. He doesn't lose rapport for killing innocent animals, he just doesn't care for it.

SilverBride

Arato wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I'll never find out because I don't intend to level either. I'm more than a little disappointed that we didn't get a strong male companion this time.

woulda been nice if they'd kept to having 1 male 1 female companion.. but.. I'm less concerned with their genders than their personalities and usefulness.
Afterall, they're not romancable so that part really doesn't matter so much. I just don't like the pseudo-"deep" "quips" Bastian repeats.

Someday I hope we get some Street Tough Nord or Orc tanky companion His personality can just be "unga bunga smash" That'll be good enough.

They may not be romanceable but we spend a lot of time with them, and I much prefer a strong handsome male following me around.

Arato

SilverBride wrote: »

Arato wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I'll never find out because I don't intend to level either. I'm more than a little disappointed that we didn't get a strong male companion this time.

woulda been nice if they'd kept to having 1 male 1 female companion.. but.. I'm less concerned with their genders than their personalities and usefulness.
Afterall, they're not romancable so that part really doesn't matter so much. I just don't like the pseudo-"deep" "quips" Bastian repeats.

Someday I hope we get some Street Tough Nord or Orc tanky companion His personality can just be "unga bunga smash" That'll be good enough.

They may not be romancable but we spend a lot of time with them, and I much prefer a strong handsome male following me around.

Eh I wouldn't consider that big nosed buffoon handsome.. and Mirri's not much to look at for me either. Neither of the 2 new companions are attractive to me either. I'm not into furry, and the word I'd use to describe Isobel is "frumpy".
I mean I get what you want but.. ZOS hasn't done a bang up job with anything we've gotten lookswise. Eveli's cute but she's not a companio, Darian I'd think would qualify as handsome but.. also not an option.

But it doesn't matter much to me, as long as I enjoy adventuring with them and they're useful. So far Bastian is useful, but I don't enjoy his company. Mirri's okay if it wasn't for her flying insects or boats negatives, but.. not as useful as a tank companion which is what I need.

So I hope Isobel is enjoyable company and useful as a tank. Her being "frumpy"... Not really bothered. Though I wish ZOS would allow us to display their helmets rather than faces. Cause really none of them have had faces I was just dying to see and I mean she looks like a lady knight, get her some proper armor and a helmet so she can believably take the punishment.

SilverBride

Arato wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

They may not be romanceable but we spend a lot of time with them, and I much prefer a strong handsome male following me around.

Eh I wouldn't consider that big nosed buffoon handsome..

I don't consider Bastian handsome, either. This is why I wanted another male companion to choose from.

Drammanoth

washbern wrote: »

Could use a chaotic evil one that would randomly kill an npc while you idle in town

Well now, as annoying as it WOULD be, I'd welcome this - quite original, I love it!

spartaxoxo

Bastian isn't much to look at but his voice is hot to me lol. But yeah there are much cooler guys in lore.

Frogmother

Bastian is annoying.
He is a person you take with you on an expedition knowing that you will come back alone.

blacksghost

I just wish they would change the passive aggressive dialogue from Bastian. " I will make what ever I like with that Bastian, now [snip]".

[edited for profanity bypass]

Coatmagic

Just want to share and oops that happened the other day and how very silly Bastian's goody-goody rapport is:

Got a new mouse that has a hair-trigger and accidently one shot an npc in a very populated quest area.
Next thing I know I got like 8 or 9 townies attacking me and guess who comes to my rescue?

- rapport Bastian - rapport Bastian - rapport Bastian - rapport Bastian - rapport Bastian - rapport Bastian - rapport Bastian
- rapport Bastian - rapport Bastian ....

ummm, thanks? ROFLMAO

Lady_Galadhiel

I don't think she will be as Bastian because she surely likes cheese.

ArchangelIsraphel

I can't trust a man who doesn't like cheese. If she likes cheese, she's automatically better than Bastian.

Gaebriel0410

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

There's a difference between lawful good and lawful stupid. My good elf meant to talk to a shopkeeper and accidently grabbed a red potion. Bastion yelled at her. On another occasion, they were in a big fight and it seems some non hostile squirrel or spider got killed. Bastion yelled at her. So she fired him. Permanently.

Mirri works much better in this regard - but only because I have an add on that disables interacting with torchbugs and butterflies. As far as accidental theft, when my elf grabbed some red item by mistake, an NPC attacked her. Mirri instantly killed the NPC. Cost a big bounty but Mirri's steadfast loyalty is well worth it.

My point is that I sure hope any rapport-dropping quirks new companions have are tied to conscious actions by the player, not misclicks or poor targeting.

Interesting comparison between the two characters, as I've never managed to lose rapport with Bastian when playing my honest/upright character. There's an option in the menu to turn off accidental stealing, perfect for good characters.

Kesstryl

Turn off attacking innocents and stealing for your good characters in the game settings, and you won't lose rapport with Bastian from accidents.

DP99

SydneyGrey wrote: »

Which reminds me ... I was being attacked by a gargoyle yesterday and killed a beetle accidently while this giant stone monster was trying to smash my face in, and Bastian made some negative comment about me killing a beetle, something like "was that really necessary" or similar. SHUT UP BASTIAN.
They need to have an option to turn off their comments completely.

I'm looking forward to the new companions, but yeah, getting tired of having to de-summon them every time I need to loot a thieves trove (in Bastian's case) or blade someone in the back.

Yeah, Bastian asked me if I was going to eat a tiny spider I killed once.

I'm like, "No dude, that's disgusting!" LOL!

drsalvation

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

There's a difference between lawful good and lawful stupid. My good elf meant to talk to a shopkeeper and accidently grabbed a red potion. Bastion yelled at her. On another occasion, they were in a big fight and it seems some non hostile squirrel or spider got killed. Bastion yelled at her. So she fired him. Permanently.

Mirri works much better in this regard - but only because I have an add on that disables interacting with torchbugs and butterflies. As far as accidental theft, when my elf grabbed some red item by mistake, an NPC attacked her. Mirri instantly killed the NPC. Cost a big bounty but Mirri's steadfast loyalty is well worth it.

My point is that I sure hope any rapport-dropping quirks new companions have are tied to conscious actions by the player, not misclicks or poor targeting.

You can always toggle off accidental looting in settings, the same way you can toggle off killing innocent NPCs.
But yeah, I feel you with that second point...
I'll always remember the blackwood outskirts, as I was sneaking through the imperial territory, a green bear dog appeared right in front of me but was unaware of my stealthy presence. And as I buffed up to the core, I prepared a burst, to which I aimed my "power of the light" on. However, as Bastian was getting ready, I looked in dismay to see that the magical spear of power did not appear on top of the bog dog, but instead, on an adorable little fur-ball. The Squirrel looked up and saw my spear slowly descending upon it, and then it looked back at me, as it dropped the acorn he was carrying, lying face down, it started back up at me with its tiny little black eyes. He squeaked, and I don't need to understand squirrel language to know exactly what it squeaked at me... He asked... "Why, Roman, why me?" And I couldn't stop the spear, it all happened in an instant, but that instant felt like an eternity to me, and to Bastian.
So when I turned around, trying to avoid the Squirrel's gaze as it got impaled by my spear, I could only see Bastian's judgmental gaze upon me. "That's wasteful!" He exclaimed right before he was brutally hauled back by the bog dog I originally intended to kill.
After Bastian's death, I've been adventuring with Mirri, waiting for Isobel to come and behave exactly like Bastian but in female.

NotaDaedraWorshipper

blacksghost wrote: »

I just wish they would change the passive aggressive dialogue from Bastian. " I will make what ever I like with that Bastian, now [snip]".

[edited for profanity bypass]

Mirri is constantly passive aggresive and snippy. Can't stand her anymore. Much prefer the soothing encouraging tones of Bastian. Even with my issue of nabbing anything that isn't nailed down.

SammyKhajit

This should be an option for lawful companions:

Say if you grabbed an item accidentally, the companion will ask sometimes, “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” You then have the option to put the item back and no bounty incurred or dislikes. This won’t happen all the time, but just now and then the lawful companion will intervene.

This one behaves when Bastian is around but hey, accidental thieving is real! And this one just needs some intervention

Let’s hope Isobel will be less preachy. They did say at the reveal, she just wants the best for the player. So maybe this one can convince Isobel that the best thing is to “borrow” stuff, or at least until the black market mogul is achieved!

SammyKhajit

drsalvation wrote: »

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

There's a difference between lawful good and lawful stupid. My good elf meant to talk to a shopkeeper and accidently grabbed a red potion. Bastion yelled at her. On another occasion, they were in a big fight and it seems some non hostile squirrel or spider got killed. Bastion yelled at her. So she fired him. Permanently.

Mirri works much better in this regard - but only because I have an add on that disables interacting with torchbugs and butterflies. As far as accidental theft, when my elf grabbed some red item by mistake, an NPC attacked her. Mirri instantly killed the NPC. Cost a big bounty but Mirri's steadfast loyalty is well worth it.

My point is that I sure hope any rapport-dropping quirks new companions have are tied to conscious actions by the player, not misclicks or poor targeting.

You can always toggle off accidental looting in settings, the same way you can toggle off killing innocent NPCs.
But yeah, I feel you with that second point...
I'll always remember the blackwood outskirts, as I was sneaking through the imperial territory, a green bear dog appeared right in front of me but was unaware of my stealthy presence. And as I buffed up to the core, I prepared a burst, to which I aimed my "power of the light" on. However, as Bastian was getting ready, I looked in dismay to see that the magical spear of power did not appear on top of the bog dog, but instead, on an adorable little fur-ball. The Squirrel looked up and saw my spear slowly descending upon it, and then it looked back at me, as it dropped the acorn he was carrying, lying face down, it started back up at me with its tiny little black eyes. He squeaked, and I don't need to understand squirrel language to know exactly what it squeaked at me... He asked... "Why, Roman, why me?" And I couldn't stop the spear, it all happened in an instant, but that instant felt like an eternity to me, and to Bastian.
So when I turned around, trying to avoid the Squirrel's gaze as it got impaled by my spear, I could only see Bastian's judgmental gaze upon me. "That's wasteful!" He exclaimed right before he was brutally hauled back by the bog dog I originally intended to kill.
After Bastian's death, I've been adventuring with Mirri, waiting for Isobel to come and behave exactly like Bastian but in female.

That is a fantastic story.

reminds this one how many times Bastion wasted his ultimate on a regular enemy instead of the boss. And then he goes, “This is how we do it in Daggerfall!”

Arato

also it'd be nice to have a filter for companion reactions to be set to "never"
because even infrequent results in Bastian lame quips whenever I enter a city, whenever I loot a chest, and whenever I enter combat.