Companion basics?

FrancisCrawford · March 2021

With all the discussion about companion aesthetics -- costumes, mounts, emotes, etc. -- I don't recall much explanation of how the companion system actually works. For starters:

1. One acquires companions through some kind of quest(s), correct?
2. Is the quest chain short or long?
3. Is there a grind for leveling up companions in some way(s)?
4. It is said that a companion can be switched between healing, damage, and tanking. Are there similar tradeoffs to having a generalist companion as there are for a generalist PC? Fewer/none? More?
5. Apparently you can choose among two companions (and perhaps more later). Does this mean you only unlock one of them?
6. Companions are character-specific rather than account-wide, correct?

Elo106 · March 2021

1. Through quests in the new dlc area.

3. You have to get xp with them active.
4. In the trailer they showed you can slot skills for them so the trade off would be similar as to players

redspecter23 · March 2021

I'm very interested in learning if companions are unlocked and leveled up accountwide or if it's character specific. They already mentioned that it involves a questline. Will all of my characters have to go unlock them individually? Will they all have to level up each time on each of my characters. If I have 18 characters, that's 18 x 2 companions to grind up.

Are they locked to one class? We saw dragonknight abilities on one of them and I don't recall seeing anything on the other.

Can they use other skill lines such as weapon skills? How about more obscure skill lines like Psijic or Mages Guild?

Can we equip gear sets on them and will reconstructed gear be equippable on companions? Can they bar swap?

Can we set fewer than 5 abilities. Maybe I only want my companion to cast fear and not waste time on anything else.

Do we spend our own skill points on unlocking their skills and morphs? Or perhaps they have their own pool of skill points from their leveling process.

phaneub17_ESO · March 2021

I wonder if I can give companions a pet like Sorcs, then we can both have a puppy and a flappy!

FrancisCrawford · March 2021

Elo106 wrote: »

1. Through quests in the new dlc area.

3. You have to get xp with them active.
4. In the trailer they showed you can slot skills for them so the trade off would be similar as to players

Changing skills isn't the only tradeoff for players. There also are attribute points, racial passives, CP, skill morph choices ...

If it's truly just skills/morphs, then they are more flexible than PCs.

FrancisCrawford · March 2021

Do companions use the same skills PCs do, or do they have a (much) more limited set to choose from?

redspecter23 · March 2021

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

Do companions use the same skills PCs do, or do they have a (much) more limited set to choose from?

I went through the video again and it looks like they gain many of the same skills players do, but the effects differ in some ways. The companion shown had dragonknight skills, but instead of organizing them by ardent flame, draconic power, earthen heart, they were organized by tank, heal, damage. The tank skill tree had chains, talons, dragon blood, stonefist, molten weapons and maybe more I missed. The other 2 trees weren't shown in detail. You could see some weapon skill trees listed below. I believe it was dual wield, 2 handed and sword/board. Whether you can unlock more skill lines would be unknown.

There was a slot for an ultimate that was currently empty. I didn't see any potential ultimates listed to choose from.

It doesn't appear as though morphs are available, but it's hard to say from the images.

No skill passives were seen, but unknown if passives will be a thing.

Alaztor91 · March 2021

redspecter23 wrote: »

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

Do companions use the same skills PCs do, or do they have a (much) more limited set to choose from?

I went through the video again and it looks like they gain many of the same skills players do, but the effects differ in some ways. The companion shown had dragonknight skills, but instead of organizing them by ardent flame, draconic power, earthen heart, they were organized by tank, heal, damage. The tank skill tree had chains, talons, dragon blood, stonefist, molten weapons and maybe more I missed. The other 2 trees weren't shown in detail. You could see some weapon skill trees listed below. I believe it was dual wield, 2 handed and sword/board. Whether you can unlock more skill lines would be unknown.

There was a slot for an ultimate that was currently empty. I didn't see any potential ultimates listed to choose from.

It doesn't appear as though morphs are available, but it's hard to say from the images.

No skill passives were seen, but unknown if passives will be a thing.

The skills shown also had no cost and had both cast time and cooldowns. It seems that they use a modified version of the base unmorphed skill that the playable class has(at least the DK ones) and instead of having companions managing resources they balance it with a cooldown system.

Red_Feather · March 2021

Looked like a battle pet that you can make builds for. And you get to choose what mount they ride. And they stand back and react to stuff you do like that pickpocket part.

Lugaldu · March 2021

I have not watched it... how far goes the customization, only with regard to the equipment, costume etc., or also otherwise, thus visually - physically?

FrancisCrawford · March 2021

Alaztor91 wrote: »

redspecter23 wrote: »

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

Do companions use the same skills PCs do, or do they have a (much) more limited set to choose from?

I went through the video again and it looks like they gain many of the same skills players do, but the effects differ in some ways. The companion shown had dragonknight skills, but instead of organizing them by ardent flame, draconic power, earthen heart, they were organized by tank, heal, damage. The tank skill tree had chains, talons, dragon blood, stonefist, molten weapons and maybe more I missed. The other 2 trees weren't shown in detail. You could see some weapon skill trees listed below. I believe it was dual wield, 2 handed and sword/board. Whether you can unlock more skill lines would be unknown.

There was a slot for an ultimate that was currently empty. I didn't see any potential ultimates listed to choose from.

It doesn't appear as though morphs are available, but it's hard to say from the images.

No skill passives were seen, but unknown if passives will be a thing.

The skills shown also had no cost and had both cast time and cooldowns. It seems that they use a modified version of the base unmorphed skill that the playable class has(at least the DK ones) and instead of having companions managing resources they balance it with a cooldown system.

That suggests there will be fewer or no problems with the equivalent of reallocating attribute points.

FrancisCrawford · March 2021

Also, do we have clarity as to what kinds of groups companions do and don't fit with? The guessing has been:

Anything goes in overland ...
... except perhaps in solo instances.
You can't use companions in solo arenas.
Companions can be added to PC until you hit the regular limit for dungeons or trials.

Does that still seem to be true?

Seraphayel · March 2021

Companions are not usable in:

- PvP

- Solo arenas

That’s what they said. If they haven’t forgotten anything, they can be used in all of the PvE content besides solo arenas.

redspecter23 · March 2021

Seraphayel wrote: »

Companions are not usable in:

- PvP

- Solo arenas

That’s what they said. If they haven’t forgotten anything, they can be used in all of the PvE content besides solo arenas.

The big remaining questions for grouping are:

Do companions take up a slot in the group or do they function like pets currently and take up no slots?

If they do take up group slots, can you queue with companions in the group?

If they don't take up group slots, but can be used in group content, how much dps or utility can they add before they become absolutely broken?

Do they "eat" buffs like worm's raiment that hit a specific number of players or are they ignored for buff purposes? Does the presence of companions effectively nerf certain sets that hit specific numbers of players?

FrancisCrawford · March 2021

Seraphayel wrote: »

Companions are not usable in:

- PvP

- Solo arenas

That’s what they said. If they haven’t forgotten anything, they can be used in all of the PvE content besides solo arenas.

OK. But on its own, that doesn't answer my question as to whether four people can do a dungeon together and each have a companion out.

Seraphayel · March 2021

I just think they work like pets. We can summon and de-summon them anytime we want.

I think they wouldn’t work as real group mates for the dungeon queue etc. How would you fit your companion into one of the three categories? You can mix their skills the way you want. So if you queue as tank and your companion as heal (even if both are DDs) you get insta queues?

I‘m pretty sure they work as pets, which will be pretty bad as all cities will be cluttered by them, but hey...

AgentZenish · March 2021

But do Companions have inventory slots? Asking the real question here, guys. Are they sworn to carry my burdens???

I have a lot of burdens.

Seraphayel · March 2021

AgentZenish wrote: »

But do Companions have inventory slots? Asking the real question here, guys. Are they sworn to carry my burdens???

I have a lot of burdens.

No, it doesn’t look like that. The stream didn’t tell us anything about it, so it could be a thing that they boost your own inventory, but I don’t think so. They’re just a pet you can customize and dress up.

Red_Feather · March 2021

AgentZenish wrote: »

But do Companions have inventory slots? Asking the real question here, guys. Are they sworn to carry my burdens???

I have a lot of burdens.

That is the biggest question I never thought to ask. You have your priorities in line better than me!

redspecter23 · March 2021

AgentZenish wrote: »

But do Companions have inventory slots? Asking the real question here, guys. Are they sworn to carry my burdens???

I have a lot of burdens.

They did have a section for "equipment" as well as skills and collectibles.

I would assume that you give them equipment to wear, but how many slots do they have? Can we give them non equipment to hold onto. Does any equipment we give them bind permanently or can we get it back later. Is it accountwide or per character? Can my DK tank give different equipment and skills to his version of a companion while my templar healer gears and skills it differently?

FrancisCrawford · March 2021

Red_Feather wrote: »

AgentZenish wrote: »

But do Companions have inventory slots? Asking the real question here, guys. Are they sworn to carry my burdens???

I have a lot of burdens.

That is the biggest question I never thought to ask. You have your priorities in line better than me!

They are sworn to obey your commands, to keep your secrets, to counsel you when requested and to keep silent when not, and to defend your name and honor.

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Kingsguard

AgentZenish · March 2021

Seraphayel wrote: »

AgentZenish wrote: »

But do Companions have inventory slots? Asking the real question here, guys. Are they sworn to carry my burdens???

I have a lot of burdens.

No, it doesn’t look like that. The stream didn’t tell us anything about it, so it could be a thing that they boost your own inventory, but I don’t think so. They’re just a pet you can customize and dress up.

Maybe a pet with 10 unlockable inventory slots. I"ll accept that.

AcadianPaladin · March 2021

Lugaldu wrote: »

I have not watched it... how far goes the customization, only with regard to the equipment, costume etc., or also otherwise, thus visually - physically?

@Lugaldu Rich Lambert said the companions have their own personality, wants, desires, reactions. I strongly suspect you cannot change their appearance like race/hair color etc. I know they can equip weapons/armor that you give them and any costume in your collection.

From today's stream I was simply delighted to hear they would ride mounts - and not generic ones but any mount in your collection! Oh, and love that they can wear costumes. I will be interested to learn if you can equip them with accessories/hair styles from your collections as well.

Lugaldu · April 2021

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

@Lugaldu Rich Lambert said the companions have their own personality, wants, desires, reactions. I strongly suspect you cannot change their appearance like race/hair color etc. I know they can equip weapons/armor that you give them and any costume in your collection.

Thanks. Yes, its unlikely that we will be able to change their physical appearance. But when we can "dress" them individually it already helps.

mocap · April 2021

i have way more important question: do they have any commands to control them? Like "follow me" and "stand here"?

You guys must realise, that without such command your companion will be one shotted right after the first mechanic of vet dlc boss.

redspecter23 · April 2021

mocap wrote: »

i have way more important question: do they have any commands to control them? Like "follow me" and "stand here"?

You guys must realise, that without such command your companion will be one shotted right after the first mechanic of vet dlc boss.

What if companions have 250k hp? Or if they essentially live forever like sorc pets?

There is a problem of balance here obviously. If they are strong enough to survive in vet content, they are near invincible in normal content. If they do enough damage to be of moderate use to endgame players, then they would do 5 times the damage of an average player and make that player look like trash by comparison.

I'm very interested in seeing how they balance companions for various skill levels and content difficulties.

Cireous · April 2021

NO THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

How do we make April 19 (PTS day) arrive faster? What kind of sorcery must we use?

Lugaldu · April 2021

Cireous wrote: »

NO THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

How do we make April 19 (PTS day) arrive faster? What kind of sorcery must we use?

I recommend TARDIS wayshrine.

FrancisCrawford · April 2021

I'm suddenly getting concerned about the grind to level them up. E.g., should we be blowing through all our master writs now, or saving them for October?

(It doesn't help that there are four double XP events in the six months from mid-October through mid-April, but none the other half of the year.)

Jayroo · April 2021

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

I'm suddenly getting concerned about the grind to level them up. E.g., should we be blowing through all our master writs now, or saving them for October?

(It doesn't help that there are four double XP events in the six months from mid-October through mid-April, but none the other half of the year.)

two worries people have I guarantee wont be an issue.
1. they will definitely take an instance spot
2. I highly doubt the leveling system will be equivalent to ours. Probably faster and much lower cap. Though I imagine it obviously will still take a decent amount of time

Mojmir · April 2021

Jayroo wrote: »

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

I'm suddenly getting concerned about the grind to level them up. E.g., should we be blowing through all our master writs now, or saving them for October?

(It doesn't help that there are four double XP events in the six months from mid-October through mid-April, but none the other half of the year.)

two worries people have I guarantee wont be an issue.
1. they will definitely take an instance spot
2. I highly doubt the leveling system will be equivalent to ours. Probably faster and much lower cap. Though I imagine it obviously will still take a decent amount of time

I think it will be worse,