What role is best for companions?

Necrotech_Master · March 2023

kind_hero wrote: »

From my experience, the most useful companion is Isobel. That is because she is good at healing, but also at tanking. Isobel also has probably the most useful ultimate.

I found that dps is the least useful role for companions. They barely count, and usually get killed quickly.

Things change when they are properly geared and equiped for tanking. Isobel has good shields and self heals.

To be honest, I hardly remember when a heal from a companion really saved me. But as tanks, companions can cause enough distraction so I can get away from some tougher hits.

The problem is that you need to have them at max level and with good gear to get some decent help. What I don't like about companions right now is that you can't stop them from wasting their ulti, and that they can't carry at least 2nd set of companion gear.

Useful companion abilities:
- aoe snares/stuns
- aoe damage
- taking aggro
- heals

Less useful companion abilities:
- long cast attacks
- damage shields (weak)
- buffs (usually fights are short)

isobel has one of the worst ultimates lol

its so bad i even took it off her bar so she could tank properly

like you suggested in the "less useful companion abilities" her ultimate has an absurdly long cast time (3.8 seconds) which leaves her vulnerable to get slapped by the boss or flat out miss the target because its so ridiculously slow

you can also change the companions in the settings to not auto-cast their ultimate and you can choose when to use the ultimate and which target (though some of the companions have secondary conditions on their ultimates, like bastion and im assuming isobels also requires the target to be in melee range for at least 2 seconds before they cast the ultimate)

phaneub17_ESO · March 2023

How did you remove the Ultimate? I must know! Maybe I can't do it in gamepad mode...

Blood_again · March 2023

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

How did you remove the Ultimate? I must know! Maybe I can't do it in gamepad mode...

You can switch off an autocast of companion's ultimate in settings.
Then you just don't press the manual cast button, so your companions never use their ultimates.

phaneub17_ESO · March 2023

Blood_again wrote: »

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

How did you remove the Ultimate? I must know! Maybe I can't do it in gamepad mode...

You can switch off an autocast of companion's ultimate in settings.
Then you just don't press the manual cast button, so your companions never use their ultimates.

/Sigh... Not what I asked, pointless when swapping between them on the fly and having to go into settings and flip it on/off. It's only Isobel's ultimate that is total crap, everyone else is awesome.

FrancisCrawford · March 2023

Several games and a couple of decades ago, I decided that companion AI was most reliable in healing roles.

I still feel that way, and in any situation where I'm serious will use a companion, if at all, as a healer.

That said:

A healer can wind up being a de facto tank, by drawing aggro and then using her heals mainly to keep herself alive.
The last time I soloed a DLC world boss, Mirri died partway through the fight, and I had to finish on my own.

phaneub17_ESO · March 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

isobel has one of the worst ultimates lol

its so bad i even took it off her bar so she could tank properly

Found it! Yeah I couldn't remove it in gamepad mode, meaning console can't do it either unless they have access to kb/m. That seems really dumb, but now I'm glad that stupid ultimate will no longer cast.

And there goes Bastian's Ultimate too.

ADarklore · March 2023

redlink1979 wrote: »

I use them all as tanks. lol
They're kinda pointless in the other roles.

It's funny, because even in DPS role I have them slotted with sword/shield and a taunt. In open world they never die anyway, so they're much more useful as an aggro draw than anything else. All but Isobel have heavy quickened gear... with Isobel I have in Bolstered because I use her against World Bosses.

I see someone complained about her Ultimate... but honestly, I've never had her die to a World Boss UNLESS she gets too far away from me and my AOE heal doesn't hit her (which usually only happens when there are multiple enemies during a WB encounter). At that point I don't believe it's her ultimate that gets her killed, it's lack of healing. They are not a 'one man show', so they definitely need support healing against tougher opponents when tanking.

phaneub17_ESO · March 2023

ADarklore wrote: »

I see someone complained about her Ultimate...

It's nearly 4 seconds where she is standing there doing nothing so can't block, can't interrupt, and can't cast anything. If something were to strike her like a lunge, stun, knockdown, or knockback it cancels casting and still consumes the charge. If her target moves out of range it will cast anyway and still consumes the charge. If Isobel's target dies early she will finish casting immediately and still consumes the charge, but not hit anything even if there are other targets in the path. The initial cone damage is that of a normal ability like Starfall or Sniping Silver; the bonus damage is equal to that of an auto-attack.

Bastian's target moves out of range he cancels casting his ultimate and retains the charge until he can get back into position. Mirri's ultimate that first 3 seconds is applying a debuff to her target making all damage taken increased by 20%. Ember is cheating with an AOE burst that is short cast time and follows her target and striking everything nearby.

hrothbern · March 2023

I don't use the Ultimates of Bastian and Isobel
I do not even have them slotted

Simply eliminating undesired uncontrolled interactions with timely blocking and more needed abilities

Necrotech_Master · March 2023

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

isobel has one of the worst ultimates lol

its so bad i even took it off her bar so she could tank properly

Found it! Yeah I couldn't remove it in gamepad mode, meaning console can't do it either unless they have access to kb/m. That seems really dumb, but now I'm glad that stupid ultimate will no longer cast.

And there goes Bastian's Ultimate too.

glad you were able to figure it out lol

yeah using kbm you can just drag the skills off the bar to leave it empty

if you were on console you would probably have to change the setting for companions auto casting ultimates, but it would still be slotted if you accidentally hit the button to tell them to use it

harvey07 · March 2023

for me i have them set up like this: Bastian - dual wield melee, Mirri - heals, Isobel - tank and Ember as a healer (she is not max level yet).

my favorite is Isobel....she and i are able to do anything i want with out problems.