Does anyone use Bastion as a companion most of the time?

shadyjane62

No. Started with Mirri and learned my lesson. A constantly complaining, extremely annoying npc was not what I had in mind for a companion.

Syldras

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Inspired in part to do so by many of the comments here, I finally unlocked Ember and Isobel and wha… Is everyone on High Isle giddy and giggly???

Probably the result of some people complaining that Bastian and Mirri weren't "positive" (friendly, cheerful) enough. Also that excessive complimenting that seems unnatural to me... but some people seem to love that.

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Hopefully, with Necrom looking to be darker in tone, the next companions will be more serious…

I seriously hope so. Although I'm sceptical as what was shown of Azandar Al-Cybiades in the announcement stream seemed rather comical and his description was also a bit weird.

RaddlemanNumber7

Syldras wrote: »

I seriously hope so. Although I'm sceptical as what was shown of Azandar Al-Cybiades in the announcement stream seemed rather comical and his description was also a bit weird.

Really Azandar "Al-Cybiades"? I didn't see that in the announcements. Not like that classical Greek chap Alcibiades at all then.

Syldras

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

Really Azandar "Al-Cybiades"? I didn't see that in the announcements. Not like that classical Greek chap Alcibiades at all then.

It's probably a wordplay in a way, but "Al-" means "of" and Cybiades is a place in Hammerfell long-established in TES lore:
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Cybiades
The Greek have nothing to do with him. Generally, TES character names often have some weird Greek or Latin feel to them. Think of many Altmer names (Iachesis, for example), or even Almalexia.

Auldwulfe

Treselegant wrote: »

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rpa wrote: »

Maybe they have increased effectiveness of the infrequent comments setting. She does occasionally comment about 'poor little thing' but its not apparant which one from the massive pile of bodies she is pitying.

I suspect some players are just more forgiving of a female voice going "aww poor thing". Or at least, seem to find it easier to ignore. As mentioned earlier in the thread, Isobel gets to care for things for small fluffy things without complaint. Bastian's voice gets described as being confrontational.

I'm the opposite, I find high pitch voices difficult to listen to and the "Poor thing" comment, much more frustrating.

I will admit, his yelling "Stop That!!" when I got a snake in an AOE, in Bad Man's Hollow, is a bit confrontational......

Auldwulfe

Aztrias

Bastian and Isobel collect dust after I have raised their rapport and done their companion quests

I prefer to use Ember or Mirri.

RaddlemanNumber7

I fired Bastian. He's getting close to level 20 and I don't want that jumbled mess of identical-looking potions in my pack on every character all the time. He can keep his cursed Julianos Medallion.

So, I disarmed him. He is now permanently relegated to the role of house guest.

Flameweaver1951

Sacked him. He currently lives under a rock in my Cold Harbour estate.

Treselegant

Auldwulfe wrote: »

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Treselegant wrote: »

rpa wrote: »

Maybe they have increased effectiveness of the infrequent comments setting. She does occasionally comment about 'poor little thing' but its not apparant which one from the massive pile of bodies she is pitying.

I suspect some players are just more forgiving of a female voice going "aww poor thing". Or at least, seem to find it easier to ignore. As mentioned earlier in the thread, Isobel gets to care for things for small fluffy things without complaint. Bastian's voice gets described as being confrontational.

I'm the opposite, I find high pitch voices difficult to listen to and the "Poor thing" comment, much more frustrating.

I will admit, his yelling "Stop That!!" when I got a snake in an AOE, in Bad Man's Hollow, is a bit confrontational......

Auldwulfe

I don't know about full on confrontational maybe more shocked/disappointed. Wouldn't you be if your friend went around exploding small animals for no reason ?

Generally the reaction these sort of lines seem to elicit from some parts of the community way outstrips the directness of the line. I'm not really attached to the critter lines and I'm in favour of them being removed because they are 'filler lines' but its hard to ignore the element of gender in these discussions.

Zos should have realised this when there was this sort of reaction - it's the same reaction every male character in rpgs seem to get when even the suggestion of romance is added to a game and the said character is percieved to be appealing to women ( Dragon Age - Alister, Mass Effect - Kaiden, Fallout - Danse etc etc). The language used to describe these characters is always the same: 'whiny' 'weak' 'cowardly' with attemps to de-sex the character. It's like the character has become a rival, a challenge, someone to express dominance over for some players. The need to express violent fantasies about the character in threads where there is positive discourse appears a very strange attempt to dominate an imaginary male person.

While there is obviously a lot that can be done to improve Bastian as companion and I support there being a revamp of the character (as long as they don't change who he is obviously), I do think the devs were a bit reactionary in deciding what the problem was initially. The big problem is lack of polish, lack of care, not that he's a male character (or a bad character).

SatanicSister

Bastian is the only companion I've played with. I really like his voice and I've kind of grown used to his comments. He doesn't have to be around when I introduce someone to the Sithis or decide to go on a thieving spree.

One time I fell to my death from stone bridge in some cavern. As I laid there, Bastian yelled, still standing on the bridge: "You will be avenged!"

Other time, in the Deadlands one fiendroth or daedrat got caught in a crossfire. Bastian later commented with utter disappointment in his voice: "I hope you're going to eat that!"

I think nothing has made me laugh as much in the game as his slightly misplaced comments.

Darkstorne

He's still the only companion I've unlocked on my main. They've done so much together I think of them as essential partners now, and playing without him feels... wrong

Crismac

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Is everyone on High Isle giddy and giggly??? Hopefully, with Necrom looking to be darker in tone, the next companions will be more serious…

Well they are from getting High...Isle.

Araneae6537

I’ve been doing more solo questing of late and bring along companions for fun, leveling them, and to see if I can take on world bosses I couldn’t before. I enjoy taking on WBs on my healer primary with Bastian specced for aggro, control, and damage (no heals — that’s my specialty, and I confess I enjoy his appreciation of my heals ) I am sure I could adjust my own build to take out WBs more efficiently, but I enjoy it, even if the fight is long, and if a newer player joins in and I can help keep them alive as well, so much the better!

And I do like his design, character, and voice overall. As I’ve posted elsewhere, I do really want a handsome sophisticated Altmer companion at some point, but Bastian is a very good companion-in-arms and on the more superficial level, not bad at all for a human. Seriously, we could have gotten someone like Darien, whom I find insufferable, at least any time I’ve encountered him outside of Summerset, so I am glad!

Beilin_Balreis_Colcan

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

I fired Bastian. He's getting close to level 20 and I don't want that jumbled mess of identical-looking potions in my pack on every character all the time. He can keep his cursed Julianos Medallion.

So, I disarmed him. He is now permanently relegated to the role of house guest.

You found a way to disable that keepsake ? I thought once we leveled Bastian to 20 we were stuck with it ?

Anumaril

I do for the pure fact that there isn't a male Altmer companion yet. Once that happens Bastian will join my roster of never-to-be-used-again companions.

Necrotech_Master

vsrs_au wrote: »

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RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

I fired Bastian. He's getting close to level 20 and I don't want that jumbled mess of identical-looking potions in my pack on every character all the time. He can keep his cursed Julianos Medallion.

So, I disarmed him. He is now permanently relegated to the role of house guest.

You found a way to disable that keepsake ? I thought once we leveled Bastian to 20 we were stuck with it ?

getting companions to 20 isnt the only requirement to getting the keepsake lol

Beilin_Balreis_Colcan

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

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vsrs_au wrote: »

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

I fired Bastian. He's getting close to level 20 and I don't want that jumbled mess of identical-looking potions in my pack on every character all the time. He can keep his cursed Julianos Medallion.

So, I disarmed him. He is now permanently relegated to the role of house guest.

You found a way to disable that keepsake ? I thought once we leveled Bastian to 20 we were stuck with it ?

getting companions to 20 isnt the only requirement to getting the keepsake lol

Not sure why you mentioned that, but it doesn't answer my question.

Sevalaricgirl

ProudMary wrote: »

I don't use any companions except to level them, then I put them away and never touch them again. I honestly don't think companions belong in an MMO.

SWTOR begs to disagree with you. Companions are awesome in that game.

Snamyap

vsrs_au wrote: »

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RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

I fired Bastian. He's getting close to level 20 and I don't want that jumbled mess of identical-looking potions in my pack on every character all the time. He can keep his cursed Julianos Medallion.

So, I disarmed him. He is now permanently relegated to the role of house guest.

You found a way to disable that keepsake ? I thought once we leveled Bastian to 20 we were stuck with it ?

They said CLOSE to level 20, so not level 20 yet and thus no keepsake?

Veinblood1965

I had no idea there was something at level 20 with Bastion, you'd think it would be something worth getting instead of something to dread, is it that bad?

Snamyap

Veinblood1965 wrote: »

I had no idea there was something at level 20 with Bastion, you'd think it would be something worth getting instead of something to dread, is it that bad?

He has a special ability when you have him active as companion called Bastian's Insight. It sometimes gives you special potions. But they are pretty rare, not all that good and generally just considered a nuisance for cluttering up your inventory. Once you done a certain amount of companion relates tasks, including getting him to level 20, that special ability will always be active, even when he's not your active companion.

https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Brother-in-Arms

Treselegant

Veinblood1965 wrote: »

I had no idea there was something at level 20 with Bastion, you'd think it would be something worth getting instead of something to dread, is it that bad?

The potions you get from his companion boon drop very rarely. Like a lot of things gained through companion perks you can end up selling them most of the time. The potions are a relic from a time when ZOS intended Bastian to be a crafter (an idea which was obviously abandoned by Blackwood's launch) and instead of updating his perk they just left them in.

I think it's testament to the work his of original writer, character artist and VA that so many people still love Bastian as a companion despite him being so obviously un-finished at times.

LunaFlora

i like doing dark anchors with Bastian amongst other things so i sometimes summon him but not always. Bastian btw like Sebastian, not Bastion like the vampire house

Kadraeus

Darkstorne wrote: »

He's still the only companion I've unlocked on my main. They've done so much together I think of them as essential partners now, and playing without him feels... wrong

Same. I started using him on one of my characters just to try him and he stuck. His values match what I imagine my character's values as, and I've used him exclusively on that character for so long that I can't imagine swapping him

Northwold

I'm very fond of Bastian. Specifically, I *like* that he doesn't like your zapping random creatures for kicks and that he maintains a sense of wonder at the world.

Honestly, I think games in general could use a little less frat bro drunk Nord thug designed to appeal to male adolescents (Skyrim seems to have been designed to serve up nothing else) and a more adult depiction of men who are not all identical and who are not all united in the sole interests of inflicting violence and chasing women. ESO does pretty well with that, relatively speaking, and Bastian is a good example.

Necrotech_Master

vsrs_au wrote: »

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Necrotech_Master wrote: »

vsrs_au wrote: »

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

I fired Bastian. He's getting close to level 20 and I don't want that jumbled mess of identical-looking potions in my pack on every character all the time. He can keep his cursed Julianos Medallion.

So, I disarmed him. He is now permanently relegated to the role of house guest.

You found a way to disable that keepsake ? I thought once we leveled Bastian to 20 we were stuck with it ?

getting companions to 20 isnt the only requirement to getting the keepsake lol

Not sure why you mentioned that, but it doesn't answer my question.

there is no way to disable the keepsake

according to that other poster they didnt get bastion to 20, which is one of the several requirements for the keepsake

and i was referencing your comment because you can in fact get bastion to lvl 20 and still not have the keepsake due to the other requirements

SilverBride

Brother-in-Arms is awarded for completing Bastian Hallix's personal achievements and several other tasks with him. To earn this achievement, you must:

Complete all 3 Bastian's personal quests for Bastian's Companion
Perform a list of actions that Bastian likes for Bastian's Favor
Equip Bastian with an item of Epic rarity
Summon Bastian at his maximum level
Reach Companion status with Bastian
Earning this achievement rewards you with Bastian's Julianos Medallion, granting the permanent effect of Bastian's Insight perk.

kyatos_binarini

Take him only for solo non DLC vet dungeons as a tank. Other activities I do without companions at all. So hate their “don’t like fishing”, “don’t touch butterflies “, “don’t visit outlaw refugee/db sanctuary”. Sometimes I think that I have to sit at city and don’t move to keep them happy.

Marillea

Honestly, I wanted to at first, but I focused on Mirri first, maxing her out ecc.

Then Ember/Isobel came out and I just feel like, personality wise, they're both 100 times better. So I never even unlocked him on any other character, along with Mirri.

katanagirl1

Did a pledge the other day, can’t remember the name, the one with Mother Ciannat? Icereach maybe.

Tank wouldn’t leave starter wayshrine after first boss when we struggled to complete so we voted to kick, someone’s very well equipped Bastian tanked the rest of the dungeon for us. Gg Bastian!

Never got another tank for the whole dungeon, lol.