ESO COMPANION GUIDE
NEVER QUEST ALONE AGAIN
Companions are a new feature which was added with the Blackwood Expansion , they are Non - Player Characters that act as a helper, when doing Quest's, Dungeons, Delves, & other content. In this ESO Companions Guide we are going to go through the basics of Companions, how to Level them up, the Armor, Skill Lines, & the in’s and out’s of the system.
INTRO TO COMPANIONS
To begin there are Currently 2 Companions which you can obtain in the Blackwood Zone, these are Mirri, & Bastian and they are Non - Player Characters who can aid you throughout your adventures across Tamriel. Each of them have their respective Quests in order to unlock them. For Mirri you need to complete the Quest Shattered & Scattered which is located at Doomvault Vulpinaz. For Bastian you need to complete the Quest Competition & Contracts which is located at Deepscorn Hollow.
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A further 2 Companions have been added to the game with the High Isle Expansion which was released in June 2022, These are Ember & Isobel and they each too have their own respective Quests in order to unlock them for Ember you need to complete the Quest Tower Full of Trouble & is found at Tor Draioch which is just North of Gonfalon Bay you can also watch this Video to learn more: https://youtu.be/QVKUhKTdsZE
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To Unlock Isobel you will need to complete the Quest Tournament of The Heart which is found at the Castle Navire Wayshrine you can also watch this Video to learn more: https://youtu.be/q_mySBHqs9o
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Once you have unlocked these Companions you can find them within your Collections Tab, Allies Section, & Call them to your side, then you can interact with them by talking to them.
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They have dialogue options available & the responses are based on how good or bad your Rapport with them is. Then you will see the Companion menu. The Companion Menu breaks down each section & contains everything Companion related for you.
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You will have their Rapport Meter, Skills Tab, Companion Gear, & Collectibles which they can wear.
WHEN CAN YOU USE COMPANIONS?
You can have your companion with you in all Content except Solo Arenas & PVP or Battlegrounds.
Please note that your Companions will take up a Group Member Slot if you do Group Content with them. So that means is if you go into a Dungeon you can have you & your Companion & 2 other Group Members, however if you have 3 other Group Members then your Companion will automatically be removed from your Group.
You can take them into Trials, but Zenimax has said that Companions are not designed to replace an actual Player in Content. The reason for this is because they want to still encourage Players to play in Groups which is fair because if Companions were too Over Powered (OP), then you wouldn’t need anyone with you. So just keep that in mind when bringing your Companion along.
COMPANION SKILL MENU
Mirri’s Skills resemble that of a Nightblade, & Bastian’s Skills resemble a Dragonknight. Each Companion has 3 Class Skill lines that use unique Companion Skills. All of these Skills are variants of the actual Nightblade & Dragonknight Skills, but they do different things and have different Names. In each of the Class lines you have 3 active Abilities, & your Companion’s Ultimate Ability is in the First Class line.
With Companions you also have access to all the Weapon Skill lines as well, these will need to be unlocked by Equipping your Companion with the Weapon Type required. Each Weapon line has 3 Active Abilities in it. Both Companions have the Light Armour, Medium Armour, & Heavy Armour lines as well. These have 1 Active Ability & 1 Passive. In order to unlock these lines you will need to Equip 3 Pieces of the required Armour Weight to unlock the required Armour line.
OTHER SKILL LINES
You also have access to the Fighter's Guild, Mages Guild & Undaunted Lines. These will be unlocked by Completing a Fighter's Guild Daily Quest, Mages Guild Daily Quest, & one of Blogrolls Undaunted Challenges to unlock the Undaunted Line.
Lastly you have the Racial Line which has a Passive for each Companion.
LEVELLING YOUR COMPANIONS
First of all the Max Level for Companions is Level 20. You level your overall Companion Combat Level through Combat. They will earn a fraction of Experience (EXP) in combat that you earn. It will be approximately 445 EXP for every 3K EXP which you earn.
Levelling their Skill Lines is really simple to do as it isn't set up like your actual Character, where if you don’t have a Skill Equipped on your bar then you don't level that Skill or Line. With Companion's you level your Class Lines the same amount regardless if you have a Skill from it equipped on the Companion's Skill Bar.
COMBAT EXPERIENCE
To Level your Weapon Lines you just need to get Combat EXP with that Weapon Equipped for your Companion. In order to Level up your Armour Lines you need to make sure you have 5 pieces of that Armour Equipped in Combat. The more Armour pieces you have beyond that increases that Skill lines gain & in order to increase your Fighter's, Mages, & Undaunted Guild Lines you will need to do Daily Quests for those Guilds.
Just a quick note you will see your Skill Bar for Companions says ability priority. We will go over that more in the Combat Section of the Guide.
For now what you need to know is that you will have 2 Skill Slots unlocked at Level 1, then your 3rd Skill will be at Level 2, your 4th Skill will unlock at Level 7, your 5th Skill will unlock at Level 12, & your Ultimate will unlock at Level 20. That is also your Companion's Overall Level.
So to wrap up the Levelling Section, so if you do the normal Levelling techniques this will help to level your Companions as fast as possible. This is Skyreach, Blackrose Prison, Public Dungeons, Zombie Farms, just methods that give Kill EXP, because Companions only level through Combat.
COMPANION GEAR
Companion Gear is different from Player Gear with no overlap between them.
Companions unlock with a set of un-traited White Equipment which is based on their background. Selecting the equipment option of the Companion Character Tab will display any Companion Gear in the Player's Inventory, which may be Equipped on the Companion.
Companion Gear does not include Levels, cannot be Enchanted, does not require Repair & does not include an inherent Style Appearance, but instead inherits the Style of the Companion it's applied to.
You can purchase White Companion Gear from Weaponsmith, Woodworker, Armourer, Leatherworker, & Tailor Merchants throughout the world, which allows you to customize your Companion Role accordingly.
Fine (Green), Superior (Blue) & Epic (Purple) Quality Companion Equipment with Traits can be obtained as Rare Drops from Monsters throughout the World of Tamriel, particularly from Bosses if you have active Companions present. This equipment is Tradeable, so Players may Buy & Sell Companion Gear as desired.
Note: that Companion gear cannot be Crafted, Deconstructed, Improved, or Researched.
Companion Gear above White Quality can come with unique traits:
Quickened (Cooldown Reduction)
Prolific (Ultimate Generation)
Focused (Critical Strike Chance)
Shattering (Penetration)
Aggressive (Damage Done)
Soothing (Healing Done)
Augmented (Ability Buff and Debuff Duration)
Bolstered (Reduce Damage Taken)
Vigorous (Max Health)
COMPANION COMBAT
Companions Skills are utilized on a priority system & a Cooldown basis. For instance your Companion isn’t going to be Spamming a Skill, there will need to be a Step by Step Rotation which you lay out for your Companion. This is set up in the Priority with which you want them to use the Skills you place.
So putting a Skill at the Number 1 Slot means that your Companion will Prioritize that Skill if it is able to be used. Then each Subsequent Slot is less of a Priority. For instance Mirri will go to Slot 1 first & use that Skill, then Slot 2, Slot 3, Slot 4 & Slot 5. The Ultimate can be used by pressing the Y Key on the Keyboard.
Something to keep in mind when setting up your Companion Rotations is to Set up thinking of all situations involved with it. For instance Mirri has an execute that is only used if the Enemy has 25% Health. So a smart thing to do is to put that at Priority Number 1 since that will not be used at all when enemies are above 25% Health but used first when they are.
You also have to take into account how your Companion Gear Traits will work as well. These can be combined to get your Skill Cooldowns lower & lower.
CONTROLLING YOUR COMPANION
When you go into Settings - Gameplay, you can Control your Companion’s overall behaviour, which controls how often your Companion will react to their surroundings.
Companions will always try to Engage in Combat when you get attacked or start Combat, but you can use Commands that will direct them to do something specific that you want.
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One thing that you can do is hold the Y Key (On Keyboard) & press the left and right Mouse Button, which will Engage them on to a Specific Target. For the Controller it will be pressing the two Thumb Sticks along with the Right or Left Bumper Buttons.
You can also Heavy Attack a target, & your Companion will start attacking the enemy that you Heavy Attacked.
Another thing that you can do is Control specifically when they will use their Ultimate Ability. This is also on Settings - Gameplay, you can either Enable or Disable the Companion Ultimate Auto Cast option. If left on, the Companion will cast their Ultimate as soon as they can, in Combat. But if you want to control when they use their ultimate, you can turn that off & just Press the Y key (On Keyboard) when you want them to use their Ultimate Ability.
THE RAPPORT SYSTEM
The Rapport System is pretty cool & is basically how much your Companion likes or doesn’t like you.
If you get your Companion to a point of terrible Rapport they can actually leave you, but doing certain things that you think they will like will boost Rapport. For Example, Bastian doesn't like you Stealing things, so you will lose Rapport if you do with Bastian Active, However Mirri doesn't mind seeing you Steal things and you will gain Rapport with her if you do this while she is Active. So you need to keep this in mind when raising their Rapport.
Note: Keep in mind that your Actions will only affect the Rapport if the Companion SEES you doing the Action good or bad, meaning that they must be summoned at the time while you perform the action.
COMPANION FASHION
Another really cool thing is that you can actually Customize your Companions! You can Customize them with Costumes you have, & with all Motifs, Outfit Styles & Dyes that you know on your account.
The only thing that you can’t do is put a Helmet on them because Zenimax has said they want to keep it that way in order to keep intact some sort of Character for your Companion.
You can also give them a Mount (Including the same Mount that you are using) & they will mount up with you in the World. You don’t have to worry about increasing their Mount Speed, as it will always match your own speed.
EXTRA INFORMATION
In addition to the Quest in Blackwood which introduces and unlocks the respective Companions, each Companion has two additional Personal Side Quests which will become available to you once you’ve established sufficient Rapport with them.
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Completing the second Companion Quest will unlock a House Guest Collectible of the Companion, allowing them to be placed & utilized in your House in the same way of other House Guest Collectibles.
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Additionally, completing any Companion Side Quest will result in a large Rapport Boost.
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Companion Perks
Each Companion has a unique associated Non - Combat Perk which benefits you when the Companion is present.
Mirri's Expertise: Treasure Chests found through Treasure Maps & in the Overland have a 30% chance to provide additional Loot from hidden compartments. The Treasure from these hidden compartments may contain additional Gold, Sellables or Recipes.
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Bastian's Insight: Potions Looted from Chests & Monsters have a 30% chance to be improved by Bastian's Insight.
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Ember's Intuition: Provides a Chance to Acquire hidden wallets of Gold when Pickpocketing.​​
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Isobel's Grace: Gives a Chance to Recover the Pack of a Slain Knight when defeating World Bosses & can contain various Supplies.
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Companion Keepsakes
By completing Meta - Achievements associated with each Companion, you can unlock a Keepsake Collectible for them which provides the benefits of the Non - Combat Perk even while the Companion isn't active. These Collectibles are located under the Upgrades Section of the Collections Menu.
