The nature of Warden animal skills

cwp303b14_ESO · September 2018

Are the summoned animals of the Warden Animal Companions skill line magical projections of animals, like a kind of tangible hologram, or are they actual animals that enter into combat when summoned?

This may be a weird/dumb question but the answer helps define the aesthetic for the class in my mind.

IsharaMeradin · September 2018

I would think that they are more like spirit versions of the animals rather than the actual animals themselves. The cliff racer dives and disappears on impact. If it were real, we should see it fly away before coming back for the next attack. The shalks are similar as soon as they reach the end of the timer and their max distance (timed to be at the same moment), they too disappear without scampering back to the player for the next attack. And while the netch lasts for 20 some seconds, it fades from existence upon timer end rather than floating off till recalled. The fetcher flies? Who knows, those things are too small to determine either way.

The bear is probably still a spirit version but a more tangible one as it has the ability to linger beyond a mere few seconds. I think of Gwen the panther companion to Drizzt Do'urden from the Forgotten Realms. A spirit animal in its own realm that takes on a more tangible form when in the "normal" realm.

Myyth · September 2018

I think of them as spirits or blue/green energy as well. I wish you really did summon a cliff racer.

Danikat · September 2018

If they're spirit animals that would also explain how you can summon them when you're nowhere near places the actual animals live, including in Coldharbour.

Tryxus · September 2018

"There also appear to be stark differences in the Wardens' powers from those of the Spinners. While the Bosmer priests reportedly draw stories from their past, present, and future to entrance their audience, Wardens seem to draw upon their natural environment to change and shape reality itself. In layman's terms, something I think my colleague Phrastus may appreciate, the Spinners appear to employ a kind of Illusionary magic, whereas the Wardens' abilities are more akin to what might traditionally be called Alteration or Confuration."

From en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Who_Are_the_Wardens%3F

Wardens tell a story, enabling them to change the world around them but also to summon animals to assist them. These creatures come from those stories

PS: I think it's a typo on that article, and it's supposed to be Conjuration

MLGProPlayer · September 2018

Tryxus wrote: »

"There also appear to be stark differences in the Wardens' powers from those of the Spinners. While the Bosmer priests reportedly draw stories from their past, present, and future to entrance their audience, Wardens seem to draw upon their natural environment to change and shape reality itself. In layman's terms, something I think my colleague Phrastus may appreciate, the Spinners appear to employ a kind of Illusionary magic, whereas the Wardens' abilities are more akin to what might traditionally be called Alteration or Confuration."

From en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Who_Are_the_Wardens%3F

Wardens tell a story, enabling them to change the world around them but also to summon animals to assist them. These creatures come from those stories

PS: I think it's a typo on that article, and it's supposed to be Conjuration

From that quote, it's Spinners who tell stories, not wardens. Wardens reshape reality.

Tryxus · September 2018

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Tryxus wrote: »

"There also appear to be stark differences in the Wardens' powers from those of the Spinners. While the Bosmer priests reportedly draw stories from their past, present, and future to entrance their audience, Wardens seem to draw upon their natural environment to change and shape reality itself. In layman's terms, something I think my colleague Phrastus may appreciate, the Spinners appear to employ a kind of Illusionary magic, whereas the Wardens' abilities are more akin to what might traditionally be called Alteration or Confuration."

From en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Who_Are_the_Wardens%3F

Wardens tell a story, enabling them to change the world around them but also to summon animals to assist them. These creatures come from those stories

PS: I think it's a typo on that article, and it's supposed to be Conjuration

From that quote, it's Spinners who tell stories, not wardens. Wardens reshape reality.

Warden description:
"Wardens are defenders of the Green, master storytellers whose nature tales become magical reality. They wield frost spells against enemies and summon animals to aid them."

Austere Warden Outfit description:
"This leather outfit is the chosen attire of Wardens, warriors whose powers come from Y'ffre's blessing. These master story tellers weave tales which come to life, creating plants, animals, and the elements of nature to aid them in battle."

kojou · September 2018

I just wish that the animals dealt frost damage...

EvilCroc · September 2018

Wardens are necromancers in disguise. Look at the color of their magic.
Their "animal" skills just summon spirits of tortured animals. And reanimate bear.

MaleAmazon · September 2018

I just imagine St Jiub banishing the cliff racers from Vvardenfell (as per lore / in-joke) by summoning them non-stop for a week, continually smacking them into a cliff wall.

As for the OP, it does say 'killed or unsummoned' iirc in the ingame passive, implying that they are in some sense alive. I dont think of them as actual animals, personally, partly since it doesnt make sense.

BWS2K · September 2018

"Once upon a time, you got hit in the face by a cliff racer! Again! It kept happening! Now there's a giant beetle and a tree that heals me! More cliff racers!" - actual recording of a Warden battle.