PTS Update 38 - Feedback Thread for New Companions

ZOS_GinaBruno

This is the official feedback thread for the two new Companions, Sharp-as-Night and Azandar al-Cybiades. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

• Did you run into any issues unlocking or acquiring either Companion?
• Which areas or zones did you play with your Companion? What types of gameplay?
• How did the Companion progression feel in terms of time to level up, advance skills, unlock abilities, improve rapport, or acquire equipment?
• Do you have any other general feedback?

tomofhyrule

I know this is about the new companions, but I do have some concerns relating to all companions, including the existing ones.

First, Companions with ice staves can steal taunt.
While the other taunting Companion skills (Provoke from the SnB line and Savage Instinct from the Undaunted line) have a caveat that will prevent them from being used if an enemy is already taunted, the Destructive Blast skill from the Destro line does not have that caveat. The other issue is that if a player with a tank-specced Companion comes across a player tank, then the Companion essentially has one or two skills on their bar that they will just never fire (and the Undaunted one offers a synergy that can't be obtained then).

The best option would be if Companion taunts used the same mechanic that Dragonknight chains/Silver leash use since U37, where it functions as a taunt unless the target is already taunted. That will still allow the Companions to cast those abilities without stealing taunt from players, and also will stop Frost Staff using Companions from stealing taunt.

As a sidenote, Bastian's Blazing Grasp, as an equivalent to the Dragonknight chains, could also be given this taunt mechanic.

Second, Companions base their distance on their weapon, locking them out of skills
This affects all Companions, but it hits Bastian the hardest.

Companions will be in melee range if they're equipped with a melee weapon or frost staff, and will stand far back with a fire/shock/resto staff or a bow. Normally that would be fine, but they are locked out of certain skills because of that.

Bastian particularly has several melee damaging skills and no gap closer, so giving him a ranged weapon (which he uses as default) means he must rely primarily on his weapon/guild skill lines. The strangest example is the Destruction Staff line, which includes the Arcane Nova skill, a Companion centered AoE with a distance of 6m. As a fire/shock Companion will stand 28m away, they'll never use it. I've even seen several times where a Companion will uselessly cast Elemental Barricade (Destro line) or Mending Incantation (Resto line) which have an 18/20m wall while they're standing 28m away.

The biggest issue is Bastian's ultimate, which is the only melee Companion ultimate on live so far. The other Companions can cast theirs at will, but Bastian will just hold his and continually give a "Bastian Hallix cannot use their Ultimate" error until he's trapped in a corner and a boss is kited on top of him. This means a fire staff Bastian (which is his default weapon!) has a massively decreased damage capability than other Companions.

The best option here would be if a Companion took their range from the skill rather than their weapon. Players already dance in and out, and it would be great if our Companions would be able to do the same thing. If a Companion had a skill that had a 6m distance, their AI should tell them to run in, cast it, and then their AI would most likely let them walk (or roll) back out. That would really help Bastian in particular, allowing him to run in to drop his ult and then get back out.

I will say something that could help the above would be one thing added to the Companions: If we could have the ability to tell Companions to stand in a specific place. I've seen too many times where an Companion just plants in an AoE, then complains about needing heals before they keel over. This also makes it all but impossible to run things like Black Drake Villa with Companions (Encratis' hokey-pokey mechanic). If we could just have a hotkey to tell a Companion to go to a specific location and another to release them from holding there, it would seriously help. And it may even address the above.

And as a Companion sidenote, I'm still a bit salty that Ember and Isobel can give me letter furnishings but my best bro can't. I also notice that Isobel has a lot more lines than the older ones, particularly Bastian. I'd love if Mirri and Bastian could get a bit more love to bring them in line with the others (especially since Bastian has seemed to be the unloved child since the beginning...)

Wow

Alright so anyone here got pts installed? Is the new Warden companions have their permanent bear pet? Or he's a bearless warden

Hamfast

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

General
All companions now gain an increasing amount of experience based on the level of rapport they have reached with the associated player character. Each rapport tier above Cordial provides an additional 5% absolute experience gain over the base 15% amount received at cordial and below.

The amount of experience gained by the companion does not reduce the amount of experience received by the player and experience-increasing effects applied to the player do increase the amount received by the companion as a result.
Significantly reduced the amount of rapport needed to reach the Friendly, Close, Allied, and Companion rapport tiers for all companions.

In the companions collections book, search results no longer get into a bad state when your search contains results that the companion can't use.

Will the companions also get less experience based on Low Rapport?

ADarklore

I would assume that low rapport XP would remain unchanged... they seem to only be buffing XP for 'above' Cordial level, but also making it much easier to gain rapport levels faster. "Significantly reduced the amount of rapport needed to reach the Friendly, Close, Allied, and Companion rapport tiers for all companions."

Hamfast

ADarklore wrote: »

I would assume that low rapport XP would remain unchanged... they seem to only be buffing XP for 'above' Cordial level, but also making it much easier to gain rapport levels faster. "Significantly reduced the amount of rapport needed to reach the Friendly, Close, Allied, and Companion rapport tiers for all companions."

I assume you are correct, but I can say from experience, it is a lot harder to get your rapport to -5000 (Min) then it is to get to +5500 (Max)... hence the question as a "Reward" for the work of lowering rapport.

phaneub17_ESO

The second part answered it, cordial and below stays base 15%.

Dragonredux

Why Sharp-As-Night does not have 20% mitigation on Sleetmail like the rest of the Companions? A pitiful 1802 Physical and Spell Resistance for 5 seconds is hardly worth slotting. Why are we using Physical and Spell Resistance numbers now when everything else percentage based? What's even more baffling it's listed as Major Resolve but it's 1802? Surely damage mitigation for himself and a minor Armor buff to allies isn't that overpowered. Companions need all the help they can get.

Other than that, his initial quest works fine, didn't have that much problems navigating through areas.

Wow wrote: »

Alright so anyone here got pts installed? Is the new Warden companions have their permanent bear pet? Or he's a bearless warden

He's bearless

BlueRaven

Not sure why the quest for Sharp takes us into a public dungeon.
On my main that is fine. But my new Arcanist alt is going to have a really hard time acquiring him. Not sure why getting a companion had to be made into such a challenge tbh.

I am going to keep trying the PTS, but as a whole I am not really enjoying this chapter that much so far.

phaneub17_ESO

Wow wrote: »

Alright so anyone here got pts installed? Is the new Warden companions have their permanent bear pet? Or he's a bearless warden

No Bear but his ultimate is a line attack, 28 meters, 0.1 cast time, 3 second stun, and an execute bonus. It looks quite powerful actually, that cast time would make lining up enemies hard to do. Isobel's cast time is outrageous, his is ludicrous.

I would have preferred he get Nature's Grasp over Living Vines, a reverse gap closer that pulls him closer to the player would be nice for ranged builds.

His push for "Armor Resists" is weird, in both his Frost Cloak and his racial passive. My guess is they don't want him to have access to two abilities doing the same thing as Ritual of Salvation.

I put full Augmented on him. Gore stun duration, Swoops off-balance, Infest goes up to 10.5 seconds, neither of his heal over time gain increased duration, Sleetmail goes up to 6.6 seconds with the crafted set though its already 100% uptime, cold snap immobilize goes up but not damage over time duration, and arctic wind does go up in heal over time.

MagicalLija

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

I would have preferred he get Nature's Grasp over Living Vines, a reverse gap closer that pulls him closer to the player would be nice for ranged builds.

I want something completely different, I'd love for a gap closer that roots the enemy, brings Sharp closer to them, kind of like Nightblade TP, would make it amazing for Dual Wield/Two-Handed

phaneub17_ESO

Sharp-as-Night's opening story reminds me of the elf with the Lyrium laced body tattoo from Dragon Age 2. I got Rapport loss for changing Sharp's appearance at the outfit station. Rapport gain from vendoring trash, picking up herbs, killing ghosts, entering public dungeons, entering or leaving a home, using a wayshrine, and recharging my weapon enchant.

I haven't found Azandar yet.

Vonkarolinas

Sharp-as-Night's voice bothers me. Based on the back story for him and the description, I was expecting him to sound more raspy or hardened. Like an old Clint Eastwood, instead he sounds like a 1950s radio announcer or Phil Hartman's character from "News Radio".

Serenez

I have obtained the two Companions and here are my initial thoughts on finding them and the initial quest.

Sharp as Night -
Suggestion to edit the Help - Tutorial - I would take out the 'side road' as that is too vague and clearly say he is outside the Outlaw Refuge on the outskirts of Necrom. Someone in chat said Outlaw Refuge and I found him immediately.

The Public Dungeon - on my regular main account was not a problem, however I could see this as a barrier for people who choose to start playing the Arcanist as a baby toon, or brand new players. Rather than rework the Public Dungeon part, might I suggest to place portals that can bypass the need to battle your way through the enemies in the Public Dungeon, otherwise new players may just abandon the effort to obtain the Companion altogether and this is not what you want. Also this Dungeon is a bit of a confusing maze, and for brand new players or baby toons, might be a bit too challenging while fighting off all the enemies.

Azandar
Finding him to put it bluntly is a pain in the arse. I saw people in zone chat saying they were searching for over an hour, and others were just confused as to his whereabouts.

Not sure if the intent was to keep Apocrypha a secret, or to have people start the main questline in order to find Azandar organically, but the outcome has caused a bit of confusion as to how to find him. I would suggest editing the Help - Tutorial to clearly state to head to the Necrom Bindery beside the Guild Traders to enter the portal. Not everyone wants to start the main questline right away and especially on PTS as they don't want to spoil anything. How did I find it? Well someone in Zone chat said to talk to the Main Quest Giver which I did and it lead me to the room. I realized after that you could just go directly to the room without needing the Quest.

The Public Dungeon - Read above for my comments on this as it applies here as well.
The Delve - I think the delve should be ok for brand new players, although my Journal Quest markers on Gamepad were a bit wonky on this one.

So for both of these Companions it was Zone Chat and not the Help - Tutorial that lead me to the whereabouts, so I would strongly suggest editing the Help - Tutorial to make it easier to locate and also to help new players/new baby toons bypass the need to fight Public Dungeon enemies. Creating portals to guide the player to the quest areas within the Dungeon I think might be a solution worth looking at.

alia_veras

Can someone post pics of Azandar skills if they found him? The usual wikis don't have them updated yet.

Serenez

Quill Knight
Scathing Rune

Abor's Augmented Ward

Fear of the Unknown


Revitalizing Researcher
Triptych Physic

Shields of Erudition

Zone of Recuperation


Scholar of Apocrypha
Vigorous Tentacular Eruption

The Triune Word

Tendrils of the Colorless Sea

Fate Omen's Inspiration


Redguard
Son of Kozenset

alia_veras

Thanks. Major Vuln on ult is the obvious standout here. Also good to see cooldown vs. duration ratios on skills playing nice with quickened traits.

BerylBones

I love Azandar's passive, but it seems a bit unbalanced. While it's great we're getting another source of surveys, recipes, and patterns, the sheer number of maps he gives you is a bit ridiculous. Between myself and a friend, we got 30 research portfolios and 24 of those had maps.
Personally, I love maps, and I still think that's a bit excessive. Would love to see the map drop rate scaled back a little bit for this.

phaneub17_ESO

Azandar's turn with 31% Augmented.

Scathing Rune minor maim for 19.7 seconds, Augmented Ward for 7.9 seconds, fear 5.2 seconds, Shields of Erudition for 7.9 seconds, Zone of Recuperation unaffected, Tendrils of Colorless Sea Minor Vulnerability for 7.9 seconds, Fate Omen's Inspiration for 10.5 seconds, and his ultimate 3.9 seconds of stun and 5.2 seconds of Major Vulnerability.

BlueRaven

Serenez wrote: »

I have obtained the two Companions and here are my initial thoughts on finding them and the initial quest.

Sharp as Night -
Suggestion to edit the Help - Tutorial - I would take out the 'side road' as that is too vague and clearly say he is outside the Outlaw Refuge on the outskirts of Necrom. Someone in chat said Outlaw Refuge and I found him immediately.

The Public Dungeon - on my regular main account was not a problem, however I could see this as a barrier for people who choose to start playing the Arcanist as a baby toon, or brand new players. Rather than rework the Public Dungeon part, might I suggest to place portals that can bypass the need to battle your way through the enemies in the Public Dungeon, otherwise new players may just abandon the effort to obtain the Companion altogether and this is not what you want. Also this Dungeon is a bit of a confusing maze, and for brand new players or baby toons, might be a bit too challenging while fighting off all the enemies.

Azandar
Finding him to put it bluntly is a pain in the arse. I saw people in zone chat saying they were searching for over an hour, and others were just confused as to his whereabouts.

Not sure if the intent was to keep Apocrypha a secret, or to have people start the main questline in order to find Azandar organically, but the outcome has caused a bit of confusion as to how to find him. I would suggest editing the Help - Tutorial to clearly state to head to the Necrom Bindery beside the Guild Traders to enter the portal. Not everyone wants to start the main questline right away and especially on PTS as they don't want to spoil anything. How did I find it? Well someone in Zone chat said to talk to the Main Quest Giver which I did and it lead me to the room. I realized after that you could just go directly to the room without needing the Quest.

The Public Dungeon - Read above for my comments on this as it applies here as well.
The Delve - I think the delve should be ok for brand new players, although my Journal Quest markers on Gamepad were a bit wonky on this one.

So for both of these Companions it was Zone Chat and not the Help - Tutorial that lead me to the whereabouts, so I would strongly suggest editing the Help - Tutorial to make it easier to locate and also to help new players/new baby toons bypass the need to fight Public Dungeon enemies. Creating portals to guide the player to the quest areas within the Dungeon I think might be a solution worth looking at.

I agree with the whole public dungeon part of this. Why put companion quests in public dungeons? It just does not seem an appropriate place, particularly for I’ll geared RP players and low level characters.

I am really struggling to find the reasoning behind placing the quests in there. It’s just baffling to me.

ectoplasmicninja

The letter furnishing you get from Sharp-As-Night cannot be read from your inventory. I had to go to my house and place it in order to read it. That's a bit inconvenient. Can it instead be sent as a mail, perhaps with the letter furnishing as an attachment? That way you can read it on the spot and also grab the furnishing itself to place later.

sikile

Sharp-As_Night's quest is stuck on 'The Double Egde - follow the trail'. There is no visual trail to follow and no change on map after exploring in all directions. Also, Sharp-As-Night stays at the camp site and does not follow. Relogging did not resolve.

phaneub17_ESO

sikile wrote: »

Sharp-As_Night's quest is stuck on 'The Double Egde - follow the trail'. There is no visual trail to follow and no change on map after exploring in all directions. Also, Sharp-As-Night stays at the camp site and does not follow. Relogging did not resolve.

It doesn't tell you, but Crouch. Its like the Greenshade quest to follow animal pee for hunts.

RaddlemanNumber7

The questline to get Azandar as a Companion doesn't have any requirements involving combat. I used a long-abandoned lvl 10 pacifist character I have to sneak through and complete the quest without getting involved in any combat whatsoever:)

Not so lucky with Sharp. Sharp's quest requires that some mobs are defeated before our character can get through the very last door. But, based on previous years, there's a possibility that if another player comes along and kills the mobs, it will fulfil the requirement for us (not able to confirm that theory though).

ADarklore

So how are people finding the new Companions as a whole? Based upon their skills, I can't help but feel that Sharp will be a great DPS companion, but unsure of where Azandar fits. I'm not seeing him to be more useful to replace Isobel based on skills, so feedback would be useful. I don't have PTS, hence the question.

Wolf_Eye

ectoplasmicninja wrote: »

The letter furnishing you get from Sharp-As-Night cannot be read from your inventory. I had to go to my house and place it in order to read it. That's a bit inconvenient. Can it instead be sent as a mail, perhaps with the letter furnishing as an attachment? That way you can read it on the spot and also grab the furnishing itself to place later.

I don't think this is a good idea. Mail auto deletes itself, even if it has attachments. Confirmed this from an alt account, where I spent more than 60 days away from the account only to come back and find all the money mail from guild selling has gone poof.

So if people forget to get the attachment, this means it's permanently lost to them. Better to have a mail and also add the letter to the collections automatically, instead of have the furnishing as an attachment.

Necrotech_Master

are you guys that serious about forcing us to run the companion unlock quest on every character in order to be able to use them?

this is starting to get ridiculous

with the new update ill have to run these unlock quests 10 times each (20 quests for both companions), then when i make an arcanist ill have to run ALL SIX companion quests in order to be able to use them

please stop doing this and allow us to use the companion when its added to the collection menu (after you run the quest ONCE)

these companion quests are further increasing the laundry list of stuff you have to do when making a new toon, not to mention that the companion is already an account wide unlock because its in your collections menu

this is extremely alt-unfriendly and becoming a greater annoyance with every set of companions that get released

ADarklore

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

are you guys that serious about forcing us to run the companion unlock quest on every character in order to be able to use them?

this is starting to get ridiculous

with the new update ill have to run these unlock quests 10 times each (20 quests for both companions), then when i make an arcanist ill have to run ALL SIX companion quests in order to be able to use them

please stop doing this and allow us to use the companion when its added to the collection menu (after you run the quest ONCE)

these companion quests are further increasing the laundry list of stuff you have to do when making a new toon, not to mention that the companion is already an account wide unlock because its in your collections menu

this is extremely alt-unfriendly and becoming a greater annoyance with every set of companions that get released

While I understand your frustration, first and foremost, you don't NEED all Companions on every character- if you want them, then it's your choice to unlock them on every new character. Personally, I have no plans to unlock Ember on any new characters going forward once Sharp is in the game. I probably won't even unlock Mirri because I'll be switching Isobel to healer and making Azandar my Tank.

Your comments make it sound like ESO is a 'race' and everything must be done all at once, which it isn't. Nothing is 'forced' upon you and everything you mentioned is a 'choice'. But yes, if you want to unlock all companions on every single character, then yes, you will have to complete their quest in order to use them.

Their rationale is simple, why would someone follow you if they don't even know you? It's part of the RPG aspect of Companions, don't like it, then don't use it. Not trying to be rude, but this was part of the purpose for adding them, to add an role play aspect to the game.

I have absolutely no problem with unlocking them and doing their quests on all 15 of my characters.

Necrotech_Master

ADarklore wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

are you guys that serious about forcing us to run the companion unlock quest on every character in order to be able to use them?

this is starting to get ridiculous

with the new update ill have to run these unlock quests 10 times each (20 quests for both companions), then when i make an arcanist ill have to run ALL SIX companion quests in order to be able to use them

please stop doing this and allow us to use the companion when its added to the collection menu (after you run the quest ONCE)

these companion quests are further increasing the laundry list of stuff you have to do when making a new toon, not to mention that the companion is already an account wide unlock because its in your collections menu

this is extremely alt-unfriendly and becoming a greater annoyance with every set of companions that get released

While I understand your frustration, first and foremost, you don't NEED all Companions on every character- if you want them, then it's your choice to unlock them on every new character. Personally, I have no plans to unlock Ember on any new characters going forward once Sharp is in the game. I probably won't even unlock Mirri because I'll be switching Isobel to healer and making Azandar my Tank.

Your comments make it sound like ESO is a 'race' and everything must be done all at once, which it isn't. Nothing is 'forced' upon you and everything you mentioned is a 'choice'. But yes, if you want to unlock all companions on every single character, then yes, you will have to complete their quest in order to use them.

Their rationale is simple, why would someone follow you if they don't even know you? It's part of the RPG aspect of Companions, don't like it, then don't use it. Not trying to be rude, but this was part of the purpose for adding them, to add an role play aspect to the game.

I have absolutely no problem with unlocking them and doing their quests on all 15 of my characters.

what i mean by "forced" is that i have already unlocked said companion in the collection menu, i SHOULD have access to it on all my characters after the first completion

running the same quest 10+ times is not fun, especially when it is time consuming and takes 15 min per character

i like to have options with my companions per toon, i have the companions set up individually as tank, or heal, or dps, im not carrying out extra gear for them to change 1 into multiple roles

i know its not a "race", but the only way i get access to the companion on my toons is to run the quest, because apparently account wide unlock in the collections menu is not enough, and its not something someone else can do for me

so im back to running the same quest 10 times in a row, twice, then when making a new character if i want the companion i still have to run the quests to be able to use something i already unlocked (this is the biggest gripe i have with running the quests multiple times)

i have never viewed the companions as "companions" but the equivalent of customizable sorc pets that wont shut up and dont take up bar space (i understand the rpg aspect, and im not saying that a person should not be able to complete the quest multiple times, but it should not be required to access the companion if you have already unlocked it)

i like having them around, cause they are still free damage and support even if they arent the most effective

this is a feedback thread, and that is my honest feedback, it is my LEAST favorite part about the companions

Sonickat

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

these companion quests are further increasing the laundry list of stuff you have to do when making a new toon, not to mention that the companion is already an account wide unlock because its in your collections menu

this is extremely alt-unfriendly and becoming a greater annoyance with every set of companions that get released

Personally I don't mind doing them their a few minutes of time at most per companion. That said I can see a scenario where people would pay crowns to straight up unlock them as long as they had been unlocked on at least one character from the quest line. Think something similar to the purchasable skyshard unlocks.

Treselegant

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

are you guys that serious about forcing us to run the companion unlock quest on every character in order to be able to use them?

this is starting to get ridiculous

with the new update ill have to run these unlock quests 10 times each (20 quests for both companions), then when i make an arcanist ill have to run ALL SIX companion quests in order to be able to use them

please stop doing this and allow us to use the companion when its added to the collection menu (after you run the quest ONCE)

these companion quests are further increasing the laundry list of stuff you have to do when making a new toon, not to mention that the companion is already an account wide unlock because its in your collections menu

this is extremely alt-unfriendly and becoming a greater annoyance with every set of companions that get released

While I understand your frustration, first and foremost, you don't NEED all Companions on every character- if you want them, then it's your choice to unlock them on every new character. Personally, I have no plans to unlock Ember on any new characters going forward once Sharp is in the game. I probably won't even unlock Mirri because I'll be switching Isobel to healer and making Azandar my Tank.

Your comments make it sound like ESO is a 'race' and everything must be done all at once, which it isn't. Nothing is 'forced' upon you and everything you mentioned is a 'choice'. But yes, if you want to unlock all companions on every single character, then yes, you will have to complete their quest in order to use them.

Their rationale is simple, why would someone follow you if they don't even know you? It's part of the RPG aspect of Companions, don't like it, then don't use it. Not trying to be rude, but this was part of the purpose for adding them, to add an role play aspect to the game.

I have absolutely no problem with unlocking them and doing their quests on all 15 of my characters.

what i mean by "forced" is that i have already unlocked said companion in the collection menu, i SHOULD have access to it on all my characters after the first completion

running the same quest 10+ times is not fun, especially when it is time consuming and takes 15 min per character

i like to have options with my companions per toon, i have the companions set up individually as tank, or heal, or dps, im not carrying out extra gear for them to change 1 into multiple roles

i know its not a "race", but the only way i get access to the companion on my toons is to run the quest, because apparently account wide unlock in the collections menu is not enough, and its not something someone else can do for me

so im back to running the same quest 10 times in a row, twice, then when making a new character if i want the companion i still have to run the quests to be able to use something i already unlocked (this is the biggest gripe i have with running the quests multiple times)

i have never viewed the companions as "companions" but the equivalent of customizable sorc pets that wont shut up and dont take up bar space (i understand the rpg aspect, and im not saying that a person should not be able to complete the quest multiple times, but it should not be required to access the companion if you have already unlocked it)

i like having them around, cause they are still free damage and support even if they arent the most effective

this is a feedback thread, and that is my honest feedback, it is my LEAST favorite part about the companions

In the politest way possible - I have to ask - if something is this much of a trouble for you and you get very little benefit from doing so - then why do it in the first place? If companions aren't particularly useful for their combat aid, you have no interest in them in terms of story/lore/roleplay and the effort of unlocking them per character is so frustrating that you'd prefer the system be changed - then why put yourself through it? It doesn't make sense to me. I have things in game that don't appeal to me so I don't do them so I just find it hard to understand.

I will say, my only frustration with the newer companion quests is that they are too long. Blackwood's companion quests are straight forward and don't take long to finish - why they didn't stick with this I don't know.