Companion's - Improving the Solo Experience

Icyfire369

I love exploring the world of Tamriel with my companions. However, there are some things that frustrate me as a solo player:

1) Mechanics that require TWO people - the most obvious one that comes to mind is the Dire Frost Keep dungeon. The moment when I come across the part where we need to step on the plates, why can't either two things happen:
a) Once we enter the room, my companion says, "Don't worry, I'll step on the left one."
b) I have to Interact with my companion, "Hey can you step on the plate for me?"

That would be literally awesome. Otherwise, I'm forced to always queue into it and play with others when I'm just not in the mood to.

2) Daily Random Dungeon - Similar to Destiny (another game), they have the ability to "CLOSE" your group so nobody can send you invites, and you are able to queue into group dungeons solo. I would LOVE to be able to do my Daily Randoms with only my companions and NOT other people. I'd imagine you can even have it function similar to the Auto-Decline Duels feature.

3) New Companion Set Idea:
--- Twice Born Leader ---
2 items: Adds 1206 Maximum Health
3 items: Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
4 items: Adds 1096 Maximum Magicka
5 items: You can have two Companions active at the same time.

4) Lack of a Companion Character sheet - I can dream but just wanted to share my thoughts.

What do you guys think?

AcadianPaladin

I don't disagree with your suggestions.

My biggest combat request when it comes to companions is to fix all ranged weapons (except ice staff) so companions don't routinely dodgeroll out of range, reset bosses and spread out the battlefield excessively. It seems a shame the only ranged weapon I'll allow any companion to use is an ice staff since it is the only ranged weapon that does not have that problem.

That said, overall I love the companions and am very glad of them.

Icyfire369

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I don't disagree with your suggestions.

My biggest combat request when it comes to companions is to fix all ranged weapons (except ice staff) so companions don't routinely dodgeroll out of range, reset bosses and spread out the battlefield excessively. It seems a shame the only ranged weapon I'll allow any companion to use is an ice staff since it is the only ranged weapon that does not have that problem.

That said, overall I love the companions and am very glad of them.

Very good point and absolutely true! If they were able to dodge to the side as an alternative option would be nice, in some instances.

Necrotech_Master

direfrost keep there are ways to solo it lol

i use other ranged weapons with my companions because in most cases i just need the dps on a tank toon (which has an actual taunt, which actually helps me practice my taunt uptimes because if the boss starts running for the companion i lost the taunt lol)

i do agree with point 4, that is very hard to see what the "total" bonus they have from their gear is adding up to, even just simple numbers such as "dmg bonus" "cooldown bonus" etc

point 3, adding a set to allow extra companions out, i dont necessarily see a problem with it but at the same time i would not give up a 5 pc set for that, the other major problem i can see with this is technical thing (i mean we cant even have a companion and an assistant out at the same time even though one is non combat and the other is combat)

i also see a lot of people saying that point 2 would be a major problem too: firstly if you allow this then we would have numerous threads popping up "why cant i remove dlc dungeon and other dungeon you cant solo from the queue random queue" random is random you get what you get

to go along with that, what would you do if you queued into a dungeon you could not solo, or even a DLC dungeon (which many have mechanics that could kill a companion easily, or just make it very very annoying to solo like red petal bastion), if you leave you still take the penalty

an additional point on that is i dont see why you should get the daily random bonus if your just soloing the dungeon, thats the point of the queue, group up and get bonus, although i could see if you had 2 people and 2 companions to allow queueing with the companions filling the 2 slots

the last comment for point 1: mechanics in dungeons, the vast majority of them are not something as simple as having the companion stand on a plate, how would you command them to focus down a certain enemy locking you down say in fang lair or fungal 2, or how would they be able to interact with the shrines in wayrest 2 to release you before it killed you?

i can tell you from experience in many dlc dungeons the companions outright die from mechanics (last boss in black drake villa, first boss in earthen root enclave, etc because the companions are too dumb to follow the mechanics)

colossalvoids

Number two is not gonna make it, as daily random made to encourage group play and help others rather than for your own gain. You still can travel there by foot without any daily bonuses with a companion though.

Icyfire369

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

direfrost keep there are ways to solo it lol

i use other ranged weapons with my companions because in most cases i just need the dps on a tank toon (which has an actual taunt, which actually helps me practice my taunt uptimes because if the boss starts running for the companion i lost the taunt lol)

i do agree with point 4, that is very hard to see what the "total" bonus they have from their gear is adding up to, even just simple numbers such as "dmg bonus" "cooldown bonus" etc

point 3, adding a set to allow extra companions out, i dont necessarily see a problem with it but at the same time i would not give up a 5 pc set for that, the other major problem i can see with this is technical thing (i mean we cant even have a companion and an assistant out at the same time even though one is non combat and the other is combat)

i also see a lot of people saying that point 2 would be a major problem too: firstly if you allow this then we would have numerous threads popping up "why cant i remove dlc dungeon and other dungeon you cant solo from the queue random queue" random is random you get what you get

to go along with that, what would you do if you queued into a dungeon you could not solo, or even a DLC dungeon (which many have mechanics that could kill a companion easily, or just make it very very annoying to solo like red petal bastion), if you leave you still take the penalty

an additional point on that is i dont see why you should get the daily random bonus if your just soloing the dungeon, thats the point of the queue, group up and get bonus, although i could see if you had 2 people and 2 companions to allow queueing with the companions filling the 2 slots

the last comment for point 1: mechanics in dungeons, the vast majority of them are not something as simple as having the companion stand on a plate, how would you command them to focus down a certain enemy locking you down say in fang lair or fungal 2, or how would they be able to interact with the shrines in wayrest 2 to release you before it killed you?

i can tell you from experience in many dlc dungeons the companions outright die from mechanics (last boss in black drake villa, first boss in earthen root enclave, etc because the companions are too dumb to follow the mechanics)

How do you get pass the plates in Direfrost Keep solo? Lol.

And I don't think people complaining about getting dungeons they cannot solo. How is that any different from what happens now? You queue up for a daily random. You get Moongrave Fane or Lair of Maarselok. People just leave the group because they don't want to be bothered running a long ass DLC dungeon. You think they care about the penalty? Lol. So I think that concern is a non-issue.

And when you get pinned down like in Fungal Grotto II or Fang Lair, you can actually command your companion to attack those targets. If they're built right they can actually kill it. But otherwise you just need to do the Temporal Guard ult to get yourself out so it's not that big of a deal. Same with Blackheart Haven final boss when you get turned into a skeleton.

AcadianPaladin

Here is how my magplar solos DFK. When she gets to the chamber before the one with the plates in it, there is the closed iron bar gate you use to exit from the plate-guarded boss. On the other side of that gate you can see a troll at about 26m. She gets right up to the gate and throws shards out to the troll which aggroes him into a charge. As soon as gets within 22M, she casts the templar's explosive charge skill (gap closer) that flies her right through the locked gate into the troll. The companion teleports to her instantly. Kill the troll and progress through that back tunnel to the boss chamber. The boss is within 22M of the intervening gate. Again, cast the gap closer into the boss and fight's on. And again, the companion instantly teleports to you. There are numerous ways for things to go wrong if not careful and it took me several attempts to be able to smoothly and reliably pull this off.

Necrotech_Master

Icyfire369 wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

direfrost keep there are ways to solo it lol

i use other ranged weapons with my companions because in most cases i just need the dps on a tank toon (which has an actual taunt, which actually helps me practice my taunt uptimes because if the boss starts running for the companion i lost the taunt lol)

i do agree with point 4, that is very hard to see what the "total" bonus they have from their gear is adding up to, even just simple numbers such as "dmg bonus" "cooldown bonus" etc

point 3, adding a set to allow extra companions out, i dont necessarily see a problem with it but at the same time i would not give up a 5 pc set for that, the other major problem i can see with this is technical thing (i mean we cant even have a companion and an assistant out at the same time even though one is non combat and the other is combat)

i also see a lot of people saying that point 2 would be a major problem too: firstly if you allow this then we would have numerous threads popping up "why cant i remove dlc dungeon and other dungeon you cant solo from the queue random queue" random is random you get what you get

to go along with that, what would you do if you queued into a dungeon you could not solo, or even a DLC dungeon (which many have mechanics that could kill a companion easily, or just make it very very annoying to solo like red petal bastion), if you leave you still take the penalty

an additional point on that is i dont see why you should get the daily random bonus if your just soloing the dungeon, thats the point of the queue, group up and get bonus, although i could see if you had 2 people and 2 companions to allow queueing with the companions filling the 2 slots

the last comment for point 1: mechanics in dungeons, the vast majority of them are not something as simple as having the companion stand on a plate, how would you command them to focus down a certain enemy locking you down say in fang lair or fungal 2, or how would they be able to interact with the shrines in wayrest 2 to release you before it killed you?

i can tell you from experience in many dlc dungeons the companions outright die from mechanics (last boss in black drake villa, first boss in earthen root enclave, etc because the companions are too dumb to follow the mechanics)

How do you get pass the plates in Direfrost Keep solo? Lol.

And I don't think people complaining about getting dungeons they cannot solo. How is that any different from what happens now? You queue up for a daily random. You get Moongrave Fane or Lair of Maarselok. People just leave the group because they don't want to be bothered running a long ass DLC dungeon. You think they care about the penalty? Lol. So I think that concern is a non-issue.

And when you get pinned down like in Fungal Grotto II or Fang Lair, you can actually command your companion to attack those targets. If they're built right they can actually kill it. But otherwise you just need to do the Temporal Guard ult to get yourself out so it's not that big of a deal. Same with Blackheart Haven final boss when you get turned into a skeleton.

the undo ult does not work on every case (wayrest 2 for example)

direfrost you can do it if you have a ranged aoe + gap closer (ranged aoe to aggro the troll and get it in range of the gap closer, then the gap closer can teleport you through the door), im not sure which lever is needed to open the other door, so if needed can use gap closer to get to the boss and then open both levers

the other dungeon that has a tricky mechanic like this would be imperial city prison, when your going through the prison yard and you have to hit 2 levers near the same time, the only 2 ways i could see this being done solo is NB with shadow image or maybe a sorc with streak

Icyfire369

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

the undo ult does not work on every case (wayrest 2 for example)

direfrost you can do it if you have a ranged aoe + gap closer (ranged aoe to aggro the troll and get it in range of the gap closer, then the gap closer can teleport you through the door), im not sure which lever is needed to open the other door, so if needed can use gap closer to get to the boss and then open both levers

the other dungeon that has a tricky mechanic like this would be imperial city prison, when your going through the prison yard and you have to hit 2 levers near the same time, the only 2 ways i could see this being done solo is NB with shadow image or maybe a sorc with streak

Sounds like we have plenty of good reasons to give our companions some actual jobs instead of figuring out ways to bypass these systems. Lol.

Icyfire369

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

Here is how my magplar solos DFK. When she gets to the chamber before the one with the plates in it, there is the closed iron bar gate you use to exit from the plate-guarded boss. On the other side of that gate you can see a troll at about 26m. She gets right up to the gate and throws shards out to the troll which aggroes him into a charge. As soon as gets within 22M, she casts the templar's explosive charge skill (gap closer) that flies her right through the locked gate into the troll. The companion teleports to her instantly. Kill the troll and progress through that back tunnel to the boss chamber. The boss is within 22M of the intervening gate. Again, cast the gap closer into the boss and fight's on. And again, the companion instantly teleports to you. There are numerous ways for things to go wrong if not careful and it took me several attempts to be able to smoothly and reliably pull this off.

Oh damn! Good to know! Thanks!

Necrotech_Master

Icyfire369 wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

the undo ult does not work on every case (wayrest 2 for example)

direfrost you can do it if you have a ranged aoe + gap closer (ranged aoe to aggro the troll and get it in range of the gap closer, then the gap closer can teleport you through the door), im not sure which lever is needed to open the other door, so if needed can use gap closer to get to the boss and then open both levers

the other dungeon that has a tricky mechanic like this would be imperial city prison, when your going through the prison yard and you have to hit 2 levers near the same time, the only 2 ways i could see this being done solo is NB with shadow image or maybe a sorc with streak

Sounds like we have plenty of good reasons to give our companions some actual jobs instead of figuring out ways to bypass these systems. Lol.

the problem is i dont think its technically possible, as companions game-mechanic-wise are nothing but customizable pets that have slightly more personality than say the summons like the sorc pets (and dont take up bar slots either)