Ember X Isobel

RaddlemanNumber7

ADarklore wrote: »

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

Ember's dialogue reveals criminal intent and a predator's serious lack of empathy. That is way too Evil to be a good fit with any of my RP characters. A nasty surprise. Her abilities seem less useful than Mirri the archer's. I can't see much use for Ember at moment.

I'm trying to like Isobel, but as her name suggests, she's a bit of a flat drone. If only I could convince myself that "sweets" were a euphemism. I was surprised by her familiarity with "pawn" shops though, and buying something cheap and used for her step sister sent a message I was not expecting. Her tankiness is useful. I can see Isobel as a less grating replacement for Bastian in the role of depersonalised tank once she's levelled.

Mirri is still my favourite companion out of the four, and I think Bastion will forever remain my favourite for adverse narrative.

You do realize there was an 'implied' relationship between the Isobel and Aurelia, as indicated by Mortens if you speak to him after the trophy presentation, which was NOT 'sisterly' at all in nature. They also speak to each other in much more 'intimate' dialogue than one would expect from any two people that were 'just friends'.

That is precisely why I chose the term "step...". It's a meme thing.

AzuraFan

I've been using Isobel since I picked her up and she's okay. Have Ember but haven't used her yet. I don't like Khajits much but maybe she'll be okay.

Mirri's still my favourite, but the other two might eventually change my mind.

(Bastian nags too much for me. Only my alts use him, and once he hits level 20, which will be soon, he'll be mothballed.)

NotaDaedraWorshipper

Treselegant wrote: »

I will never understand Bastian hate and why people deem it so necessary to proclaim theirs

Absolutely, it's really unnecessary. Having to mention how much you hate an npc every time someone mentions them is a bit much. Ok, so they might not suit you personally but thats the nature of things isn't it? Everyone has different tastes and prefer different things. I only talk about my feelings regarding certain companions when that's the topic and even then I don't have strong feelings. Some of what I have seen in comments about Bastian says more about the commenter than the character.

Very much agreed.

Cendrillion21

I just love templars so Isobel is my favorite. I expected to like Ember more but her childish behavior is off-putting to me.

Isobel can definitely stay home if I'm in a thieving mood though.

ADarklore

Cendrillion21 wrote: »

I just love templars so Isobel is my favorite. I expected to like Ember more but her childish behavior is off-putting to me.

Isobel can definitely stay home if I'm in a thieving mood though.

^THIS! Almost all my characters are Templars, so it's cool to have another Templar sidekick. I have Isobel set as a tank, I don't need extra DPS, and they already offer low DPS even when built for it. I have Ember set as Lightning staff DPS, and she seems good in that role. Mirri I have set as healer and Bastian, well, he was going to be my 'go-to' tank for world bosses, but I'm seeing that Isobel can handle it just fine.

DP99

I'm doing the same thing with Ember and Isobel that I did with Mirri and Bastian, and that is switching back and forth between them to level them up. So, I'm basically using both equally, when one gains a level, I switch to the other.

That said, I do like Ember a bit better than Isobel, the same as I like Mirri better than Bastian, because I can do the illegal stuff with my character who is a thief and assassin with Ember and Mirri, when I cannot do that with Isobel or Bastian. But, I don't outright hate Isobel or Bastian, I just like them less than the others due to their holier than thou attitudes.

If I had to rank them, for me it's 1.) Mirri, 2.) Ember, 3.) Isobel, and 4.) Bastian.

I have Mirri as a healer with restoration staff, Bastian as a tank with sword and shield, and Ember and Isobel as damage, with the former using a destruction staff and the latter using a bow.

wolfie1.0.

Isobels intro quest is too long to do on 18 characters to unlock her.

zaria

Doing world bosses and went and see see a lot of Isobel around.
Friend had her tank the faun world boss and she stayed up.
As I understand she is an decent tank but you can only have one tank here.
Now this one love Ember, she is a funny Khajiit, yes might get a bit over the top but don't complain picking an bug trying to loot. Finished her quest today who was nice.

morrowjen

Ember likes it when I thieve but dislikes watching me fish. She is as close to an actual ESO player as an NPC companion can get. She doesn't dig getting caught and even gets a little mad at you for it (and that's in line with lore). Her personality is energetic and fun. To my khajiit main, it feels like I found my missing kid sister and I'm taking her on some adventures to catch up and bond. It's a fun experience with her.

Isobel is noble but if I leave her out and want to respect her views that means that I have to modify my behavior. It's like your bff being the hall monitor that will write you up despite being your bff.

kieso

I like Isobel more.

nwilliams2107b16_ESO

As a Paladin fighting for the light, I have finally found my companion, Isobel and I travel the world smiting evil together.

FlopsyPrince

Treselegant wrote: »

I will never understand Bastian hate and why people deem it so necessary to proclaim theirs

Absolutely, it's really unnecessary. Having to mention how much you hate an npc every time someone mentions them is a bit much. Ok, so they might not suit you personally but thats the nature of things isn't it? Everyone has different tastes and prefer different things. I only talk about my feelings regarding certain companions when that's the topic and even then I don't have strong feelings. Some of what I have seen in comments about Bastian says more about the commenter than the character.

Whatever.

Bastian is a very self-righteous whiner. One who gripes about killing spiders....

He does make a decent tank for the most part, though I expect him to get better once I fully level him.

Treselegant

Bastian is a very self-righteous whiner. One who gripes about killing spiders....

You see, this is very subjective. I don't find this at all. The regular amount of social media engagement from women in regards Bastian outside of spaces dominated by male players tells me your opinion is not shared by all. The amount of fan fiction written with Bastian/female vestige has become pretty common and in the last year and been finding it's place up there with long term favourites such as Darien and Fennorian. Every time there is a post elsewhere where someone goes 'oh, I actually like this character' lots of people come out of the woodwork to engage. People who 'hate' a thing are far more noisy due to everyone else just getting on with it.

I find the incessent 'everyone hates Bastian' brigade to be far more 'whiny' to be honest.

karthrag_inak

Ember is Khajiit.

Isobel is This One Does Not Care.

lolvrangsinn

I've spent more time with Ember so far just because she's the one I got first in this chapter. She is a little too chipper for me; I'm too old for her hyperactiveness.

I do not like Isobel. I do not like this VA that everyone is going on about. Her voice is high and grating to me. But her skills look nice and eventually I'll get around to leveling her as well.

I like my Mirri. She'd probably be the one I'd hang out most with irl. Right now I have her set as a healer just because.

And I like arguing with Bastian in my head xD I still steal while he's around (and still pick bugs with Mirri). I don't care if he gets upset over it. Our rapport is still fine. Their dislike of certain items doesn't impact me that much.

Ye_Olde_Crowe

I thought I would prefer Ember because she seemed to be more fun to be around my criminally very active main, but …
… she must be voiced by my most annoying customer ever. Just when I thought I would never have to listen to this customer again - there is Ember. *shudder*
… she likes criminal activity, but she hates being caught. Well, tough luck, kid- my main may be criminally minded, but he‘s also a klutz.
… she doesn‘t like dogs. Or Werewolves. Did I mention my main is a werewolf? And for me - the player- dogs are the absolute best feature of this planet. I instantly took a dislike to Ember once I found out about her dislike.

So I can use any of the other companions instead of Ember. I‘m used to de-summoning them before my char goes on a crime spree, anyway.

ADarklore

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Isobels intro quest is too long to do on 18 characters to unlock her.

I've done Isobel's quest so far on five characters, and I can speed through it in less than 15 minutes, probably closer to 13 mins. Having created a new character, I went through each Companion quest to get them, and have to say Isobel's is one of the least annoying, even though it's also the most spread out. Going back through Mirri and Bastian's quest... Mirri's stood out as being very long but linear, Ember's is just no fun IMO; a lot more running around by not so geographically spread out.

LalMirchi

Ember is currently my favourite as she is a breath of fresh air. I like the fact that she is very impetuous and sort of a noob while being very capable in her role. She is rather young after all.

I would like to see an old, wise but caustically sarcastic companion (something like Abnur Tharn) sometime in the future.

However I do not understand the dislike for the other companions. As with each of my characters I treat each companion as a separate person with their own personalities, likes and dislikes. I have already maxed Mirri & Baz and they still have purpose.

Nobody, in spite of their awesomeness, is perfect or indispensable in every instance so some activities will require dismissing the companion. I also choose my player characters for the task in front of me.

Caupo

At first I thought that Isobel is the same boring female version of Bastian (aka Sebastian DA2), but she actually is not. I genuinely like her now, especially after her personal quest. Mirri was fine and very generic dark elf profile, cant say I liked her also cant say I didnt. Ember however has crazy eyes, which makes me uncomfortable, havent leveld her enough to see if I like/dislike her besides her eyes.

ADarklore

My plan was to make Ember a lightning staff wielding DPS... but after her dodge rolling away and resetting a boss... I nixed that idea. I also noticed that Ember is usually extremely late to a fight when melee equipped... whereas Isobel seems to be very quick to enter combat. I'm not sure if this is an AI thing or my imagination.

phaneub17_ESO

ADarklore wrote: »

I also noticed that Ember is usually extremely late to a fight when melee equipped... whereas Isobel seems to be very quick to enter combat. I'm not sure if this is an AI thing or my imagination.

They're all doing that, sometimes they stand there do nothing while you fight. I pulled out Bastian to tank a world boss and all he did was stand right in my face the entire time. Heavy attacking or using the command did nothing.

SammyKhajit

This one likes all the companions (even Bastian the Cheese Hater).

Isobel is currently on high rotation because she doesn’t die easily. Sammy has very low expectations

ADarklore

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

I also noticed that Ember is usually extremely late to a fight when melee equipped... whereas Isobel seems to be very quick to enter combat. I'm not sure if this is an AI thing or my imagination.

They're all doing that, sometimes they stand there do nothing while you fight. I pulled out Bastian to tank a world boss and all he did was stand right in my face the entire time. Heavy attacking or using the command did nothing.

I have noticed that I have to use the 'attack' command several times before they actually respond... I'm wondering if they changed something with the AI in order to appease people complaining about them being too close. Now, they're too far away and usually are late to attack, unless you specifically tell them to attack, repeatedly.

Treselegant

I do not like Isobel. I do not like this VA that everyone is going on about. Her voice is high and grating to me.

She has an established fanbase among Elder Scrolls players mainly due to her role in Skyrim as Serana. I never got it; her voice is very frustrating to me in everything I've heard her in. I admittedly rolled my eyes a bit when I heard they hired her for Isobel. I'm sure she's a lovely women but I do not like her voice acting. I gave her a try in game but couldn't cope with it. I prefer lower more calm sounding voices which is one of the reasons cannot give these new companions my time.

AzuraFan

ADarklore wrote: »

I have noticed that I have to use the 'attack' command several times before they actually respond... I'm wondering if they changed something with the AI in order to appease people complaining about them being too close. Now, they're too far away and usually are late to attack, unless you specifically tell them to attack, repeatedly.

I haven't noticed that with Mirri, but I have with Isobel. I'm a bow/bow main, and it can take Isobel a while to engage (sometimes everything's already dead by the time she runs forward). Also, she quits early. She often quits when an enemy is down to about 10% health, or when one enemy is dead but others are still standing. I'm not sure if it's a bug or as designed.

ADarklore

AzuraFan wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

I have noticed that I have to use the 'attack' command several times before they actually respond... I'm wondering if they changed something with the AI in order to appease people complaining about them being too close. Now, they're too far away and usually are late to attack, unless you specifically tell them to attack, repeatedly.

I haven't noticed that with Mirri, but I have with Isobel. I'm a bow/bow main, and it can take Isobel a while to engage (sometimes everything's already dead by the time she runs forward). Also, she quits early. She often quits when an enemy is down to about 10% health, or when one enemy is dead but others are still standing. I'm not sure if it's a bug or as designed.

Yeah, I've seen that too... but more so with Ember... everything will be dead by the time she even reaches me to join combat. UNLESS I have her set as range staff, then she'll attack on time... but melee, yeah, not so much. Isobel I have her set as tank and since she's drawing aggro she can't quit. LoL!

NotaDaedraWorshipper

Treselegant wrote: »

Bastian is a very self-righteous whiner. One who gripes about killing spiders....

You see, this is very subjective. I don't find this at all. The regular amount of social media engagement from women in regards Bastian outside of spaces dominated by male players tells me your opinion is not shared by all. The amount of fan fiction written with Bastian/female vestige has become pretty common and in the last year and been finding it's place up there with long term favourites such as Darien and Fennorian. Every time there is a post elsewhere where someone goes 'oh, I actually like this character' lots of people come out of the woodwork to engage. People who 'hate' a thing are far more noisy due to everyone else just getting on with it.

I find the incessent 'everyone hates Bastian' brigade to be far more 'whiny' to be honest.

He also doesn't dislike killing spiders, so they are also wrong about that. Something that is common with the people who whine about him. He dislikes killing animals like chickens, hares, squirrels etc. Not spiders and centipedes.

Treselegant

so they are also wrong about that

Something I come across a lot with complaints about Bastian. There's a lot of misinformation meant to back up their vision of him as 'the worst'. I've seen the accusation of 'whining' about a whole host of things he doesn't actually do. Someone up thread compared him to Sebastian in DA 2 which is so wrong I don't know where to start.

LadyLethalla

Drop a meteor on a world boss.

Bastian: "Now you're just showing off!" And "Don't you think that was a little excessive?"

Vs
Ember: "I love it when you do that!"

I know which one I prefer.
Plus, she can immobilise mobs. Very handy in a large trash fight.

James-Wayne

Isobel just makes you feel good about playing the game, she compliments you on everything you do in a really nice way...

If only real life was like Isobel.