Polar wind nerf and companions

SpiritKitten

I am super concerned about keeping my companion alive now during boss fights without polar wind dots and the 33% nerf to the burst heal portion. I play one bar oakensoul in PVE and I cannot slot another heal. My companion as well already has a heal slotted but doesn't have room to slot multiple. This polar wind nerf is an unnecessary nerf to pve players' quality of life. It just sucks when the companion dies during a boss fight or excursion, etc...and this will make that issue worse.

Does anyone have any suggestions how to counter this companion nerf?

DenverRalphy

If your companion is a DPS build, they should be in Medium gear and slot Vanish from their Medium Armor skill line. They never die unless they take a hit that can drop more than 50% of their health in one blast.

If your companion is a Tank build, 6pc Vigorous, 6pc Quickened, and their own tank skills keep them alive. My tank companions wre nigh unkillable in all but the hardest of content when they are all Blue gear. Now with purples mixed in, tank companion deaths are even more rare indeed.

If your companion is a healer build, well.. Doctor heal thyself.

SpiritKitten

DenverRalphy wrote: »

If your companion is a DPS build, they should be in Medium gear and slot Vanish from their Medium Armor skill line. They never die.

If your companion is a Tank build, 6pc Vigorous, 6pc Quickened, and their own tank skills keep them alive. My tank companions wre nigh unkillable in all but the hardest of content when they are all Blue gear. Now with purples mixed in, tank companion deaths are even more rare indeed.

If your companion is a healer build, well.. Doctor heal thyself.

Thanks for these suggestions, yes, it's a dps companion.

edited to add: I did not have vanish slotted, I'll do that straightaway.

Morvan

If you need a burst healing, you have other options for that.

Either scribing or Fungal Growth in Green Balance, with subclassing you'll pretty much have every other option, if you want to.

Erickson9610

You could equip Companions in Heavy Armor, equip multiple defensive skills on the Companion, or equip a non-ice staff ranged weapon on the Companion to keep them out of harm's way. Also make sure to set the Companion's defensive skills higher on the skill priority list — I generally keep the "Used when <condition>" skills on the first ability slot. As an alternative to Heavy Armor, Companions can utilize 5 pieces of Medium Armor to use the Vanish skill, which heals them and drops enemy aggro due to them going invisible.

For yourself, you could equip Telvanni Efficiency to make Companions fire their defensive skills more frequently, equip item sets which can crossheal your Companions and allies, or slot more healing skills on your bar. Also be sure to utilize the pet keybinds (Y + LMB or Heavy Attack to set attack target, Y + RMB to stop combat and return to your side) to better control the position of your Companions to help them get out of harmful AoE.


For the sake of PvP, though — reverting the change to Polar Wind probably isn't the best move.

SpiritKitten

Morvan wrote: »

If you need a burst healing, you have other options for that.

Either scribing or Fungal Growth in Green Balance, with subclassing you'll pretty much have every other option, if you want to.

I'm a frost warden and will be subclassing out the other two lines, so only polar wind is my heal, plus they buffed it for the self, so I'll keep using it. My companion is Zerith whose frost skills perfectly compliment my build.

edited to add: I already use two frost dmg scribing skills.

SpiritKitten

Erickson9610 wrote: »

You could equip Companions in Heavy Armor, equip multiple defensive skills on the Companion, or equip a non-ice staff ranged weapon on the Companion to keep them out of harm's way. Also make sure to set the Companion's defensive skills higher on the skill priority list — I generally keep the "Used when <condition>" skills on the first ability slot. As an alternative to Heavy Armor, Companions can utilize 5 pieces of Medium Armor to use the Vanish skill, which heals them and drops enemy aggro due to them going invisible.

For yourself, you could equip Telvanni Efficiency to make Companions fire their defensive skills more frequently, equip item sets which can crossheal your Companions and allies, or slot more healing skills on your bar. Also be sure to utilize the pet keybinds (Y + LMB or Heavy Attack to set attack target, Y + RMB to stop combat and return to your side) to better control the position of your Companions to help them get out of harmful AoE.


For the sake of PvP, though — reverting the change to Polar Wind probably isn't the best move.

Well I am a solo polar wind healer in PvP, my entire build is based around it, so sucks for my team, because I am not unslotting that, especially now that they made its self-heal even better. I swapped some CP to try to make up for the loss some.

As for the armor, yeah, I'll slot vanish/med.

I was using telvanni on an alt and then they nerfed it, so I just stopped playing that.

I actually didn't know about the pet keybinds! Thanks for that info!

DenverRalphy

SpiritKitten wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

If your companion is a DPS build, they should be in Medium gear and slot Vanish from their Medium Armor skill line. They never die.

If your companion is a Tank build, 6pc Vigorous, 6pc Quickened, and their own tank skills keep them alive. My tank companions wre nigh unkillable in all but the hardest of content when they are all Blue gear. Now with purples mixed in, tank companion deaths are even more rare indeed.

If your companion is a healer build, well.. Doctor heal thyself.

Thanks for these suggestions, yes, it's a dps companion.

edited to add: I did not have vanish slotted, I'll do that straightaway.

Just make sure you put Vanish in the 1st slot.

The skills fire from left to right until it hits the first skill not on cooldown that can be fired. Then it returns back to the beginning from left to right. If all skills are on cooldown or no conditions to fire can be met, then they light attack. So theoretically if the first few skills have really short cooldowns and have no conditions to meet, it could result in the rest of the skills never firing, especially if you have quickened gear and telvanni efficiency. (I suspect this may be why many players are under the impression tank taunts in IA are bugged)

Which is why I prioritize their order as Conditional > Longer Cooldown > Shorter Cooldown. Though sometimes I may need to deviate from that priority protocol to ensure ideal ideal conditions (like making sure a debuff fires before an attack fires).

SpiritKitten

DenverRalphy wrote: »

SpiritKitten wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

If your companion is a DPS build, they should be in Medium gear and slot Vanish from their Medium Armor skill line. They never die.

If your companion is a Tank build, 6pc Vigorous, 6pc Quickened, and their own tank skills keep them alive. My tank companions wre nigh unkillable in all but the hardest of content when they are all Blue gear. Now with purples mixed in, tank companion deaths are even more rare indeed.

If your companion is a healer build, well.. Doctor heal thyself.

Thanks for these suggestions, yes, it's a dps companion.

edited to add: I did not have vanish slotted, I'll do that straightaway.

Just make sure you put Vanish in the 1st slot.

The skills fire from left to right until it hits the first skill not on cooldown that can be fired. Then it returns back to the beginning from left to right. If all skills are on cooldown or no conditions to fire can be met, then they light attack. So theoretically if the first few skills have really short cooldowns and have no conditions to meet, it could result in the rest of the skills never firing, especially if you have quickened gear and telvanni efficiency. (I suspect this may be why many players are under the impression tank taunts in IA are bugged)

Which is why I prioritize their order as Conditional > Longer Cooldown > Shorter Cooldown. Though sometimes I may need to deviate from that priority protocol to ensure ideal ideal conditions (like making sure a debuff fires before an attack fires).

Good information, thanks!

spartaxoxo

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I suspect this may be why many players are under the impression tank taunts in IA are bugged

The devs have confirmed a bug on that and said they were working on a fix a long time ago but there's been no updates since.

spartaxoxo

One of the things you can do is subclass into Templar when the update drops. The Templar healing skill is pretty nice because it targets you and the companion. Or the Sorcerer skill line because the pet heal will target the companion too. And a pet means that it will also sometimes take some of the aggro heat off of mobs.

tsaescishoeshiner

It might not be as much of an issue, since the range for Polar Wind is pretty small--I often my Companion is nowhere near me, let alone within the 12m range unless we're stacking (which is often punished by boss mechanics). They still at least get the burst heal.

The low stats of companions means they output very little DPS--it might be easier to keep them in heavy armor with healing skills instead. Mystic Fortress from the resto staff skill line is like 4x as strong of a heal as any of their damage skills are as damage, because of the long cooldowns compared to player skills.

Elvenheart

SpiritKitten wrote: »

Morvan wrote: »

If you need a burst healing, you have other options for that.

Either scribing or Fungal Growth in Green Balance, with subclassing you'll pretty much have every other option, if you want to.

I'm a frost warden and will be subclassing out the other two lines, so only polar wind is my heal, plus they buffed it for the self, so I'll keep using it. My companion is Zerith whose frost skills perfectly compliment my build.

edited to add: I already use two frost dmg scribing skills.

Have you picked two other class skill lines yet?

SpiritKitten

Elvenheart wrote: »

SpiritKitten wrote: »

Morvan wrote: »

If you need a burst healing, you have other options for that.

Either scribing or Fungal Growth in Green Balance, with subclassing you'll pretty much have every other option, if you want to.

I'm a frost warden and will be subclassing out the other two lines, so only polar wind is my heal, plus they buffed it for the self, so I'll keep using it. My companion is Zerith whose frost skills perfectly compliment my build.

edited to add: I already use two frost dmg scribing skills.

Have you picked two other class skill lines yet?

Yep, necro grave lord for frost and passives and arcanist herald of the tome for a passive.

SpiritKitten

spartaxoxo wrote: »

One of the things you can do is subclass into Templar when the update drops. The Templar healing skill is pretty nice because it targets you and the companion. Or the Sorcerer skill line because the pet heal will target the companion too. And a pet means that it will also sometimes take some of the aggro heat off of mobs.

I'm already subclassing onto necro and arcanist.

SpiritKitten

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

It might not be as much of an issue, since the range for Polar Wind is pretty small--I often my Companion is nowhere near me, let alone within the 12m range unless we're stacking (which is often punished by boss mechanics). They still at least get the burst heal.

The low stats of companions means they output very little DPS--it might be easier to keep them in heavy armor with healing skills instead. Mystic Fortress from the resto staff skill line is like 4x as strong of a heal as any of their damage skills are as damage, because of the long cooldowns compared to player skills.

Don't really see the point of even having a companion if they're just gonna stand around healing themselves.

Hotdog_23

I only use tank or healer companions since their DPS are so small; I get more utility out of them as support roles. Then I only put them in heavy gear because they are not worth resing if they die most of the time. Isobel is my tank, and Azandar is my healer. Use Isobel 95% of the time and only bring Azandar out when I know Isobel will die to mechanics of some world bosses.  

For healing, I use scribed skills. Soul burst (healing), Sage's remedy for the HOT for 10 seconds, and generally (Resolve) for the minor resolve buff as 3rd effect. 

Isobel skills
provoke, solar ward, holy ground, ritual of salvation, blessed sacrament
equipment all heavy with a mix of mostly bolstered, vigorous and quickened

Azandar skills are
Triptych Physic, Mystic fortress, Shields of erudition, mending incantation, rejuvenation

Stay safe

DenverRalphy

spartaxoxo wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I suspect this may be why many players are under the impression tank taunts in IA are bugged

The devs have confirmed a bug on that and said they were working on a fix a long time ago but there's been no updates since.

Have they though? All I recall ever being said is that the player concern will be presented to the devs. When did they actually confirm it being bugged?

SkaiFaith

SpiritKitten, I am in your exact same position and after trying to fight for Polar Wind as the only worth healing skill for a solo (with companion) oakensoul user, I've now given up.
I'm planning to subclass and I was originally planning on giving Polar Wind to all my characters - well, the good news is now I can give the upcoming Polar Bear skill to them instead.

I have no idea how to replace it and I'm simply thinking to renounce on keeping the companions alive - they were dead anyway in really (and I mean REALLY) intense fights, but it was so good for general boss fights...

spartaxoxo

DenverRalphy wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I suspect this may be why many players are under the impression tank taunts in IA are bugged

The devs have confirmed a bug on that and said they were working on a fix a long time ago but there's been no updates since.

Have they though? All I recall ever being said is that the player concern will be presented to the devs. When did they actually confirm it being bugged?

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hey all, we can confirm this is a bug and we are working on a fix for it. Thank you for reporting it!

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Thanks spartaxoxo! The fix the team is working on should address cases of this happening with other bosses as well.

In this thread about Gothmau

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8221007#Comment_8221007

DenverRalphy

spartaxoxo wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I suspect this may be why many players are under the impression tank taunts in IA are bugged

The devs have confirmed a bug on that and said they were working on a fix a long time ago but there's been no updates since.

Have they though? All I recall ever being said is that the player concern will be presented to the devs. When did they actually confirm it being bugged?

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hey all, we can confirm this is a bug and we are working on a fix for it. Thank you for reporting it!

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Thanks spartaxoxo! The fix the team is working on should address cases of this happening with other bosses as well.

In this thread about Gothmau

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8221007#Comment_8221007

Ah cool. Missed that one. 6 months ago though. Ouch.

spartaxoxo

DenverRalphy wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I suspect this may be why many players are under the impression tank taunts in IA are bugged

The devs have confirmed a bug on that and said they were working on a fix a long time ago but there's been no updates since.

Have they though? All I recall ever being said is that the player concern will be presented to the devs. When did they actually confirm it being bugged?

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Hey all, we can confirm this is a bug and we are working on a fix for it. Thank you for reporting it!

ZOS_JessicaFolsom wrote: »

Thanks spartaxoxo! The fix the team is working on should address cases of this happening with other bosses as well.

In this thread about Gothmau

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8221007#Comment_8221007

Ah cool. Missed that one. 6 months ago though. Ouch.

Yea.... hopefully we can get an update sooner rather than later. 6 months is a long time.