Love the new Companions, Hate unlocking them

SilverBride · July 2023

I find both Azandar and Sharp-as-Night amusing and fun and enjoy them both a lot. But unlocking them is such a long tedious slog in 2 of the worst Public Dungeons in the game that I cringe when I think of going through the process again. I have unlocked both of them on 3/6 characters and will try to complete them on one character a day until I am finished, but I really hope this isn't a trend they plan to continue in the future.

I hope they either make the process much less time consuming and tedious or give us the option to unlock them on future characters, much like they allow us to skip the new character tutorial.

phaneub17_ESO · July 2023

I dunno, it takes me about 35 minutes per character to get both Azandar and Sharp, they have very straight forward paths.

Gorne has two paths you can take, if you don't mind skipping the sky shard and group event, go west path of the entrance has fewer trash packs and no boss encounters. It's also very straight forward, no winding paths or stairs just a rope bridge.

Azandar it helps to first go through Necrom Bindery take the left portal first to grab the wayshrine in the west of the zone then go through the right portal is closer to Midden. When you pop the flying book you don't have to follow it, just run to the book stack. After talking to Tem, don't talk to Azandar, just go. At the Public Dungeon once you finish in Martina's room, there's a backdoor that leads to a balcony that drops at the instance entrance. Go north to get a wayshrine back to Midden. At his house do his thing, don't talk to him, go to the wayshrine in the West you unlocked at the beginning, to the delve and after that is over, this is the only time I port to midden as I don't want to backtrack out.

SilverBride · July 2023

It takes me a lot longer than that and I spend half of my time running into dead ends and backtracking.

_Zathras_ · July 2023

SilverBride wrote: »

or give us the option to unlock them on future characters

Sure, but that will come with a 3000 Crown price tag, payable up front.

There has been a trend to monetize convenience, and an easy way out to avoid (intentionally designed) mind-numbing grinds. Why chase skyshards, again for the 100th time, when it's far easier to click-n-pay. Why run to the bank, leaving your sweet farming spot, when you can buy a banker you can then summon inside the dungeon?

..Why do the companion quests, again for the umpteenth time, when you can pay for the unlock?

I do see this happening.

..and yes, I have bought skyshards, and a merchant. The marketing system works, as intended.

RicAlmighty · July 2023

I finished both of their quests in about 15 - 20 mins each. I don’t know how it could get much simpler to be honest. The only way they’d ever let you skip them would be with a crown store purchase.

Nestor · July 2023

There is unlocking them, then there is doing their quest. The initial quest to get them is pretty short.

Since levels are account wide and affinity rewards are account wide, you only need to grind them on one character.

SilverBride · July 2023

Both Azandar and Sharp-as-Night's quests to unlock them take place in Public Dungeons.

No one knows if they will give us a way to skip this process or not, that is up to them to decide. But it is a royal pain as it is now.

phairdon · July 2023

Once unlocked the first time they should be unlocked account wide. Just my opinion.

SilverBride · July 2023

phairdon wrote: »

Once unlocked the first time they should be unlocked account wide. Just my opinion.

I couldn't agree more.

LalMirchi · July 2023

I don't feel any need to get the new companions for all my characters yet, this is not an effective strategy IMHO. There is now a variety so I have designated roles for the existing companions that are compatible with my character's roles/temperaments and I'm not ready to change those arrangements just yet.

I have a different tactic for the new companions. As I also have a new character the new companions are at present only unlocked by my new arcanist. The initial quests were quite linear and relatively quick.

Here's a very good use of XP-scrolls that have rained down from daily logins. As both my character and companions are new they level up naturally together and take good advantage of the XP-boosts. Doing the daily Undaunted, Mages & Fighters guild quest has helped fill out their skills. Sharp's level 16 and Azandar's level 14 atm and I'm in no hurry and run them in tandem so to speak.

Grizzbeorn · July 2023

I am not a fan of having to unlock each companion per character.
I keep wanting to pull one up before going into combat, then realize I don't have the one I want unlocked on that character, so if I truly want them, I have to drop what I'm in the middle of doing, and go do their unlock quest.

I know it's easy enough to plan for the time needed for the unlock, but in the moment, in the middle of something else, when you remember you don't have them unlocked yet, it's frustrating.

Maitsukas · July 2023

If this were to be implemented, how would it work for Mirri? Because her quest has choices that can change the fate of the characters involved, including

her brother Liam. This will also affect the dialogue with her in Gideon after completing the Blackwood storyline.

It would be odd to purchase a quest skipping item from the Crown Store and doing her quest with both the NPC Mirri and Companion Mirri running around at the same time.

Sarannah · July 2023

Took me well over an hour to unlock both companions on each character. Granted, I did fully complete all the public dungeon quests and events at the same time on each character. So it wasn't just unlocking the companions.

Took me over three days to get all of them on all 20 characters. But I didn't really mind, as my sharp was already level 12, just from unlocking both companions.

On the one hand I would love for companions to be unlocked accountwide, on the other hand I'm thinking "What's the rush?". As MMO's are meant to be played for long time periods, so there should always be something to do.

Braffin · July 2023

Sarannah wrote: »

On the one hand I would love for companions to be unlocked accountwide, on the other hand I'm thinking "What's the rush?". As MMO's are meant to be played for long time periods, so there should always be something to do.

I'd "awesome" this twice if that were possible. Well said!

kaushad · July 2023

I don't see the point in gaining every companion for every player character and think that other player should at least have the option to do their quests again. Although I suppose that would be quite simple to implement, in the same sort of way that we can do Public Dungeon quests after unlocking their associated mementos account wide.

peacenote · July 2023

In my opinion, after obtaining the companions once, they should be available to fight with you on all characters. However I think the ability to increase or decrease their reputation should be locked until you do the quest.

That way, there is still a reason to do the quest. It would kind of be like the companions are allowed to help friends but still need to decide whether they want to to permanently travel and be friends with you individually.

For me this would be a nice compromise because it drives me nuts when I want to pull out my pocket healer for a character I use rarely and realize I haven't done the quest. Before AwA it would have mattered but now so many of my characters see less regular use. So connecting the character specific content to repeating the quest makes sense to me.

Also, I think this change should have come out with AwA and should be base game, not a paid unlock.

flizomica · July 2023

Can we please, please scrap the requirement to re-do the intro quest on every character? I would engage with the system so much more if it didn't have that pointless and time-wasting barrier. For example, if someone leaves during a random normal dungeon on an alt character, I'd be able to quickly pull out a companion to fill the empty slot (since group finder backfilling takes forever or doesnt work at all). I'm not gonna spend hours of my life unlocking 3 companions on every character that I don't even do questing or overland content with just to make random normals occasionally slightly more convenient.

SilverBride · July 2023

I would love if we could skip the companion quests the same way we can the new character tutorial and the ToT tutorial. These both offer it as an option so those that wish to complete these again still can.

But my biggest complaint is how the quests have gotten longer and more complicated. The first companion's quests were short and quick. The second companion's quests were longer and more detailed. Now the quests for Azandar and Sharp are long and run us back and forth and through public dungeons that don't have the most user friendly layouts. What will be next? Having to run trials to unlock them?

Tandor · July 2023

SilverBride wrote: »

I would love if we could skip the companion quests the same way we can the new character tutorial and the ToT tutorial. These both offer it as an option so those that wish to complete these again still can.

But my biggest complaint is how the quests have gotten longer and more complicated. The first companion's quests were short and quick. The second companion's quests were longer and more detailed. Now the quests for Azandar and Sharp are long and run us back and forth and through public dungeons that don't have the most user friendly layouts. What will be next? Having to run trials to unlock them?

I agree that this trend has become particularly tiresome as it now involves public dungeons. I'm opposed in principle to things being account-wide but I'd certainly prefer that these quests introduced you to the new zones' delves rather than dungeons.

As for an option not to repeat a quest, my priority for that is the first Harborage quest when you walk with the Prophet through his memory. I must have done that 70 or 80 times by now and it's getting a tad boring! I actually recite the Prophet's lines along with him.

Belegnole · July 2023

I found that I don't really like the two new companions. I found that everything about them is a bit annoying. So, while i do have both on one toon I won't be rushing to unlock them on any others. In fact I haven't been in a rush to level any of the companions as they don't do much and once their story is over they're just pets. However I'm leveling a anarchist tank right now and chose to level Isabel at the same time. So I guess there's a companion for every mood....lol

katanagirl1 · July 2023

Sarannah wrote: »

Took me well over an hour to unlock both companions on each character. Granted, I did fully complete all the public dungeon quests and events at the same time on each character. So it wasn't just unlocking the companions.

Took me over three days to get all of them on all 20 characters. But I didn't really mind, as my sharp was already level 12, just from unlocking both companions.

On the one hand I would love for companions to be unlocked accountwide, on the other hand I'm thinking "What's the rush?". As MMO's are meant to be played for long time periods, so there should always be something to do.

Might work for you, but I play all day every day and have plenty to do already. Redoing quests ad nauseam is not my idea of fun.

wolfie1.0. · July 2023

The simple solution. Do what the have done with cyrodill intro quest and ToT. An option to skip. Maybe have it come at the cost of a lower than normal rep with the character

Snamyap · July 2023

Unlocked them on five chars to be able to hurry up the guild skill lines. Can't say I enjoyed it but it wasn't the end of the world. Not sure how long it took per character but for some reason I found it less tedious than the High Isle duo.
But public dungeons are trivial to me, I use an on screen map mod, and most of my chars are stage 4 vampires so they can by pass most enemies.

Grizzbeorn · July 2023

SilverBride wrote: »

What will be next? Having to run trials to unlock them?

That would really suck.
Especially if, like in the case of my group since the year of the Blackwood chapter, we are unlocking the new companions on new characters.
I have several max-level characters that use them, as well, but typically, the first character I've been using to unlock the new companions is also a newly-created character.
That has just been our process since I introduced my girlfriend to the game; we start new characters together to run the new content (the Q2 Chapter releases). We've done this for Blackwood, High Isle, and Necrom.

Stanx · July 2023

The dungeons are pretty friendly IMO. No groups of trash more than like 6-7. Only major issue really I've found is the boss in Gorne who will shoot fire halfway across the map at you if someone else is fighting them. Particularly right now as people are still farming parts for the squirrel.

In terms of time, I always feel like Isobel's quest takes the longest. I'd actually just unlocked her on my new arcanist as she's already specced to heal and thought her questline dragged significantly more than Sharps. Azandar's felt comparable IMO. I agree with the sentiment above that we shouldn't feel the need to rush these things.

Speculating we'll need to complete trials for companions in future is pure hyperbole. Every companion quest is doable solo.

Gargath · July 2023

I hope the new companion quests are much better than this about Quistley - in my opinion it's one of the most boring stories to listen.

Flangdoodle · July 2023

Didnt know there was already a discussion and posted a new thread which was redirected here, so reposting:

As much as I like the companion quests, they get a bit much after the 3rd or fourth time. I have 13 characters and it seems a bit unreasonable to have to do the same quests that many times just to be able to use a companion with each toon. I get it with the skill lines - but even then you don't have to do e.g. the fighters guild and mages guild quest stories just to level up those skill lines.

I also get that logically it makes sense - new person, new relationship with that individual person, so I'm wondering if the rapport could be kept as is per character, but just have an option to skip the quest that introduces the character to the companion. Short of that, wondering if (as with the guild quests) there could be alternative ways for characters to "earn" the ability to use companions after the quest has been completed on another character?

Just spitballing really, but it just seems like having to complete the same quests 13 times for each character to use each companion is a little burdensome.