Companion is too much useless...They're almost walking non combat pet.

kumenit_taeynav · July 2023

heres what id do in your shoes bc i dont often have problems with any of my companions outside of boss fights featuring a ton of aoes

-pay attention to the colour gear you have on them. the higher quality colours give bigger bonuses to the traits on the gear

-keep track of what traits they have. if youre going for a pure dps comp then you might not wanna have a healing trait on them

-unlock new skills by levelling up and doing guild dailies. companions have a lot more than just their class abilities they can use. impressario sells guild commendations for your comps

-be aware of the order you put their abilities on their bar. they use them in the order you put them in followed by their ultimate

-go into your settings and turn off the auto-ult toggle for companions. theyll waste their ult on dumb stuff on a half dead skeever if you dont control them

-direct their aggro using combat pet controls. on pc thats Y + left/right click, idk about consoles

as other players have noted here they arent gonna replace a cooperative player but they really arent that bad

ADarklore · July 2023

Every time I hear people say, "Companions are useless" it's always a 'user error' situation. Some players just think they can throw on any gear, any skills, not think about leveling them, and they'll perform like another player. Just NO! This does not work.

You MUST level them to 20 in order to get them their full health and all important skills. Then, you must give them blue gear or higher and purple weapons (which are cheap to buy), and then give them skills that work for the role you want them to run.

It also helps IMMENSELY to run the new Telvanni Efficiency set if you want a companion to tank. I have Azandar as my main tank and he not only survives world bosses like a champ, but he's also healing me, buffing me and shielding me during the whole encounter. I have him in blue bolstered gear with quickened jewelry and sword/shield.

kyatos_binarini · July 2023

the only thing that make them useless is AI (its absence, to be exact). Walking into red circles, impossibility to block without S&B (even with ice staff), taking wipe mechanics into face. Sure they can survive overland trash fights but 99% players can deal with them in 2-3 skills.

Currently i'm running Azandar only as buffer/debuffer (20lvl, full medium quickened purple gear with skills for self survivability) as this is the only role companions can do. Even in heavy armour and 40k health with restoration staff they die from aoe attacks of world bosses (which I can keep on myself being a glass cannon dd with 20k hp).

For "chapter main feature" it looks terrible and raw.

Masteroshi430 · July 2023

Companions are fine, they allow shorter fight on PVE content when your character is a Tank or Healer but they need improvements:
- If they are equipped with range weapons they sometimes tend to stay behind walls , down the stairs, etc... Then their shots can't reach their target (when they deign fighting).
- Sometimes they stay up the cliff and do nothing when you jumped to fight
- When fighting a boss they sometimes move back and if the boss follows them, it can reach a point where the boss resets (the boss life bar goes back to full and he/she/it goes back to the spawn point ) because too far from the spawn point.

starlizard70ub17_ESO · July 2023

blktauna wrote: »

Sounds like a you issue. My companions do a decent job and only die on world bosses once inawhile

The OP is using the companions wrong. No matter what skill setup or gear you give them, no companion is going to have enough DPS to take down any type of boss while the player sits back and mostly tanks. While I'll agree, a lot of the companions are useless for the most part, Ember and Sharp-As-Night are useful. They actually get involved and provide a distraction while giving me a chance to heal or setup an ulti attack. But there's no way either of them are going to fight off a mob while I sit back and take notes.

Ragnarok0130 · July 2023

blktauna wrote: »

Sounds like a you issue. My companions do a decent job and only die on world bosses once inawhile

Indeed, my tank companions work well, in fact when we're missing a tank in a dungeon because our fake tank immediately left when a DLC dungeon pops Isobel or Bastion works very well. As DPS they work well too, however I've not made any of them a healer since I rarely need heals overland and I'm the healer in dungeons so I can't comment on them in that role. Perhaps if the OP screenshots his companion's build we can help him make them effective.

Snamyap · July 2023

The only change that imho is a must is the way gear is acquired. Purple gear in the "proper" traits is way too expensive/rare. And it's almost a slap in the face that my master crafter can do diddly squat for my companions.

ForzaRammer · July 2023

Companions are already so underpowered, they can’t even do 15k dps, yet at least 10% the human players in group finder are worse

phaneub17_ESO · July 2023

ForzaRammer wrote: »

Companions are already so underpowered, they can’t even do 15k dps, yet at least 10% the human players in group finder are worse

Sure they can, but only with certain classes and builds. I'm not telling you which ones! Hah.

WalkingBomb · July 2023

They make decent healers in 4 man content but need constant micromanaging for instakill mechanics, enough to not need any additional healing as long as they're alive; they're atrocious at tanking & damage though.

Giraffon · July 2023

My companion's number one most useful function is to scare off annoying trash mobs that chase me on overland maps while I farm resource nodes.

Nestor · July 2023

Bastion is my Tank. He rarely dies doing his job. And, that is because I don't heal him, I am bit selfish like that.

Ember is my Healer, she rarely dies yet keeps me alive when I solo WBs, which is an accomplishment.

Isobel, she is currently a Healer, but she faints quite often during WB fights.

I don't think I would ever have a companion do DPS. They are best suited to Support Roles.

Ingenon · July 2023

I solo normal dungeons and WB with Isobel as a tank with no issues. I take Ember as a ranged mag DPS along for most overland content (except WB daily quests). I slot Vanish as a skill for Ember, so she usually disappears when she gets attacked, rather than dying. Any companion will die often farming dragons in Elsweyr, in my experience.

phaneub17_ESO · July 2023

Ingenon wrote: »

Any companion will die often farming dragons in Elsweyr, in my experience.

To be fair, half the players there are dying on a regular basis when facing a dragon. If they can't stay alive fighting them, what makes people think companions will fare any better :P

kindred · July 2023

For those of you that say the companions are fine, you need to go play ff14. The companions in that game are so good and smart that you can use them in dungeons to learn the fights. They never ever stand in aoe. They know all the mechanics of a fight and you can follow them if you dont know where you're soppose to stand. They aren't used in open world they are only used in dungeons but that should be the standard of smart companions.

Ragnarok0130 · July 2023

Snamyap wrote: »

The only change that imho is a must is the way gear is acquired. Purple gear in the "proper" traits is way too expensive/rare. And it's almost a slap in the face that my master crafter can do diddly squat for my companions.

I was surprised that we can't gear our companions with real gear when they came out. It would be at least logical for us to be able to craft and improve companion gear with our crafting skills.

pelle412 · July 2023

Companions didn't change anything for me combat wise. What I couldn't solo before companions I still can't with a fully geared one. That's perfectly ok. They add a dimension of RP, story and achievements that can't be dismissed.

wilykcat · July 2023

Companions have multiple purposes in the game which depends on the player.
Some players use them to distract/fight monsters, others are like bodyguards, and sometimes for role-playing.

old_scopie1945 · July 2023

I have them for my RPG style of play. Each companion is allocated to just one of my characters. How useful they are is not important, it is how their story fits into the story of who they are coupled with. Therefore most of my characters don't have a companion. That depends what the future brings up though.

Deathgiggle · July 2023

Speak for yourself, my companions do really well! Ember in all purple gear is amazing at AOE in overland content. I have Isobel in all perfect purple gear and he can tank any world boss or public dungeon with ease. Of course the gear cost about 17 million, LOL! Yeah, the problem is getting them high end gear with the good stats. Most people don't want to spend that much on their companions, so they running them around in green or blue gears with mismatched traits.

If they did anymore dps or were better at tanking/healing, then it would place an imbalance on the game. They don't want you to sit back and do nothing as your bot farms for you!

SimonThesis · July 2023

Ive healed random normal dungeons where the groups dps was lower than my companion's Dps. If they buff companions too much many of the pugs doing 10-20k dps will be replaced. Unfortunately, there are players in this game only capable of 7k dps and on the other end players doing 100k+ dps.

Number_51 · July 2023

Bastian tank got me over that hill for doing nBRP without anyone else (can't really say solo since he's there). He'll die in Ennodius' spinning fire every time if I don't heal him, but on the other hand he can take Minerva's one shot like a champ.

Necrotech_Master · July 2023

the companions are generally pretty good if you slot their skills right and have even semi decent gear

frankly they need at least medium or better armor to have any survivability, but they still die mostly to dungeon mechanics they literally dont know how to deal with

AzuraFan · July 2023

kindred wrote: »

For those of you that say the companions are fine, you need to go play ff14.

Or the original Guild Wars, where you could fill your party with henchmen and pretty much do all the content in the game - including hard mode.

I'm glad ESO added companions. I see them as one of the better features added during my ESO time. But they're weak. I've followed online build guides for them, but the right gear and skills won't prevent them from standing in AoE attacks, resetting bosses because they run too far away from them, or just plain dying because the AI controlling their skills is dumb.

polaris86 · July 2023

Primarily I use Mirri and Ember, both dps. I think they’re great. When playing my healer character, Mirri has taken down World Bosses pretty easily while I just heal her and do some heavy attacks.

But I’ll agree as tank they aren’t the smartest as they tend to stand in fire. So I typically don’t use Isobel (plus she gets mad when I open thieves troves…)

Ingel_Riday · July 2023

AvalonRanger wrote: »

Companion is too much useless...They're almost non combat pet.

Simply they should be reinforced. Why my CP1800 DPS keep tanking and healing work for the Isobel Velois?
She is 100% fake tank. She can't survive through just public dungeon boss fight without me.

I love Ember, not because she is reliable warrior, but because she warm me always.
Simply say, she is cute home cat pet. But not real sorc DPS. She also can't survive
just public dungeon boss fight even with my real tank full taunt.

And, sometimes companion AI are going broken, then keep standing red color AoE.

If they're real player character in group dungeon, you want to kick them out immediately.

What gear are you using on your companions? What skills? You've not given much information to work with here.

Companions are not meant to replace other players. But, they can fill in here or there and / or make up for things your character might lack.

My Isobel is decked out in vigorous / bolstered armor with a sword and shield. With all her self-heals, damage shields, and her taunts, she's pretty good at keeping aggro and staying alive... within reason. She's not going to be tanking a vet dungeon anytime soon, and her cooldown on dodging enemy AOEs has a time limit (so no, it's not bad AI. It's that there is a timer between uses of the dodge-roll). So, she's good... but she's not a full blown player-tank replacement.

You know what, though? Isobel is more than tanky enough for public dungeons, normal non-dlc dungeons, most world bosses, and overland content... especially on a character that can heal her when she's between cooldowns (magicka templar, magicka sorcerer with twilight matriarch, etc.). That's what I'm using her for, incidentally. Works fine. No complaints.

My CP 1765 magicka dragonknight is currently using Azandar as a healer (I'm tanky enough that I don't need Isobel, and I can't heal her enough to keep her going anyway). Is Azandar as good as a player healer? No, but he's not meant to be. I have him in 5 soothing, 4 quickened, 1 bolstered, and 1 vigorous (just to slightly boost his survivability). 5 light / 2 heavy. With his great arcanist damage shield, mystic fortress, rejuvenation, and a few other abilities... the guy can keep both of us alive through a HUGE amount of things. I've even used him as a healer in pug normal dungeons when the player healer ditched us, and he filled the gap. Everyone had to be more careful and use some self-heals because he's not as good as a human player, but he got the job done. We were fine.

If your companions are so useless that they are little more than walking pets, I'd go back and re-visit how you built them. Either that or temper your expectations. They were never meant to out in out REPLACE other players in roles.

ADarklore · July 2023

kindred wrote: »

For those of you that say the companions are fine, you need to go play ff14. The companions in that game are so good and smart that you can use them in dungeons to learn the fights. They never ever stand in aoe. They know all the mechanics of a fight and you can follow them if you dont know where you're soppose to stand. They aren't used in open world they are only used in dungeons but that should be the standard of smart companions.

But what you're not saying, is that companions in FFXIV are DESIGNED TO BE player replacements, while companions in ESO are NOT. The devs even stated that companions are not meant to replace players, hence the reason we cannot just select a four-member party with only ourselves and three companions... yet in FFXIV you can, because it's what they're meant to do.

So comparing the two is comparing apples and oranges.

M0ntie · July 2023

Interesting reading. I'm disappointed with Bastian's tanking. I want him to tank the Herald Seekers for me but he dies at the last part when I need him, unless I especially slot a healing skill for him. That being said he only has blue gear. Purple gear, or even blue best traited gear is RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE. I'm not paying 4+ million for one piece of companion gear.

We should be able to upgrade companions gear that we find.

hrothbern · July 2023

M0ntie wrote: »

Interesting reading. I'm disappointed with Bastian's tanking. I want him to tank the Herald Seekers for me but he dies at the last part when I need him, unless I especially slot a healing skill for him. That being said he only has blue gear. Purple gear, or even blue best traited gear is RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE. I'm not paying 4+ million for one piece of companion gear.

We should be able to upgrade companions gear that we find.

You are PC NA ?

Snamyap · July 2023

M0ntie wrote: »

Interesting reading. I'm disappointed with Bastian's tanking. I want him to tank the Herald Seekers for me but he dies at the last part when I need him, unless I especially slot a healing skill for him. That being said he only has blue gear. Purple gear, or even blue best traited gear is RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE. I'm not paying 4+ million for one piece of companion gear.

We should be able to upgrade companions gear that we find.

What's wrong with slotting a heal for your tank?