Welcome to the ESO Companions Guide. In this guide we are going to take a look at all the features of the companions and how you can unlock them. The Companion system is part of Blackwood. For more in-depth information on anything related to Companions you can also visit the Companion Overview page on ESO-hub.com.
ESO currently offers six companions Bastian Hallix, Mirri Elendis, Ember The Khajiit, Isobel Velois, Sharp-As-Night and Azandar Al-Cybiades.
Table of Contents:
Unlock Companions
- How to unlock Sharp-As-Night and Azandar (Necrom Chapter)
- How to unlock Ember and Isobel (High Isle DLC)
- How to unlock the Bastian and Mirri (Blackwood DLC)
Companion Basics
- How to summon the Companions
- How to enter the Companions Menu
- How to level up the Companions
- How to find and equip Companion Gear
- How to unlock and use Companion Skills
- How to increase and decrease the Companion Rapport
- How to assign a Mount and Appearance to the Companion
- Companion Unique Non-Combat Perks
- Restrictions and Limitations of Companions
- Developer comments on Companions
How to unlock the Companions Sharp-As-Night and Azandar in ESO
If you have access to the Necrom Chapter, you can unlock the two companions Sharp-As-Night and Azandar Al-Cybiades by completing associated quests in the Telvanni Peninsula and Apocrypha zone.
- The Companion level up progress is account wide.
- You have to unlock the Companions on each character to access them.
Sharp-As-Night Companion Location in ESO
To unlock the Companion Sharp-As-Night in ESO you will have to complete his questline (25min). Sharp-As-Night can be found near the city gates of Necrom, the main city of Telvanni Peninsula. The quest that you have to complete to unlock Sharp-As-Night is called “The Double Edge“.
More Sharp-As-Night Guides:
Azandar Al-Cybiades Companion Location in ESO
To unlock the Companion Azandar Al-Cybiades in ESO you will have to complete his questline (20min). Azandar can be found around the outskirts of Cipher’s Midden in Apocrypha. The quest that you have to complete to unlock Azandar is called “The Fateweaver Key“.
More Azandar Guides:
How to unlock the Companions Ember and Isobel in ESO
You can unlock the Companions Ember the Khajiit and Isobel Velois in the High Isle DLC for ESO.
If you have access to the High Isle DLC, you can unlock the two companions Ember The Khajiit and Isobel Velois by completing associated quests in the High Isle zone.
- The Companion level up progress is account wide.
- You have to unlock the Companions on each character.
Ember Companion Location in ESO
To unlock the Companion Ember The Khajiit in ESO you will have to complete her questline. Ember can be found in at Draioch just north of Gonfalon Bay, the main city of High Isle. The quest that you have to complete to unlock Ember is called “Tower full of Trouble”.
More Ember Guides:
For further help I do recommend watching the video below on how to unlock Ember The Khajiit as a Companion:
Isobel Companion Location in ESO
To unlock the Companion Isobel Velois in ESO you will have to complete her questline. The Companion Isobel Veloise can be found at Castle Navire on the southwest coast of High Isle. The quest that you have to complete to unlock Isoble is called “Tournament of the Heart”.
More Isobel Guides:
For further help I do recommend watching the video below on how to unlock Isobel Veloise as a Companion:
How to unlock the Companions Bastian and Mirri in ESO
If you have access to the Blackwood DLC, you can unlock the two companions Bastian Hallix and Mirri Elendis by completing associated quests in the Blackwood zone.
- The Companion level up progress is account wide.
- You have to unlock the Companions on each character.
Bastian Companion Location
Bastian can be found in the Deepscorn Hollow objective along the southwest coast of Blackwood. The quest that you have to complete is called “Competition and Contracts”.
More Bastian Guides:
For further help I do recommend watching the video below on how to unlock Bastian Hallix as a Companion.
Mirri Companion Location
Mirri can be found in the Doomvault Vulpinaz objective in north Blackwood. The quest that you have to complete is called “Shattered and Scattered”.
More Mirri Guides:
For further help I do recommend watching the video below on how to unlock Mirri Elendis as a Companion.
How to summon the Companions in ESO
Once you have them unlocked you can summon the Companion. You can only have one active at a time. Companions to replace a real player in instanced zones. That means if you are 4 players going into a 4-player group dungeons, your Companions will be automatically unsummoned.
The ESO Companions can be found in the collections menu under Allies.
Collections > Allies > Companions
How to enter the Companions Menu in ESO
To open up the Companions menu you have to interact/talk with the Companion and then click on Companion Menu. Once clicked you will enter the Companion Menu and see all the details.
There are a few subsections:
How to level up the Companions in ESO
ESO Companions level up simply by gaining experience points from killing enemies. They get 25% of your overall experience. Don’t worry, they don’t take a cut from your experience, you still gain the full 100%. You can grind your way to max level to unlock all the Companions features if you prefer this. The Mages Guild, Fighters Guild and Undaunted are unlocked by simply completing a daily from these Guilds. To level up the Mages Guild, Fighters Guild and Undaunted you will have to complete dailies for the guilds repeatedly till you reach the max level.
- Companions get 25% of your experience (You still get your 100%, they get the 25% on top).
- For anything related to grinding I do recommend reading the Grind Guide.
- You can also find a complete Mirri Leveling Guide and a Bastian Leveling Guide on ESO-hub.com
How to find and equip Companion Gear in ESO
Companion gear in ESO is different from player gear, there is no overlap between them. Once you unlock a Companion, they will start out with basic white quality non-traited equipment.
Companion equipment doesn’t have levels, can’t be enchanted, doesn’t require repairs and doesn’t include an inherent style appearance.
You can purchase basic companion gear from a Weaponsmith, Woodworker, Armorer, Leatherworker and Tailor merchants to customize the role of your companion accordingly.
Higher quality gear can be obtained from monster drops throughout the world, particularly from bosses.
A full list of all the gear and traits can be found in the Companion Gear List and Companion Trait List on ESO-Hub.com
Companions in ESO can have the following traits on their gear:
- 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)
How to unlock and use Companion Skills in ESO
Companions have access to several skill lines. Most Companion skill-lines have 3 active abilities, which are unlocked by leveling up. They will be automatically unlocked and don’t require any skill points to unlock like the players character.
- Class Skill lines increase with the combat level of the companion.
- Weapon skill lines increase through combat experience based on the equipped weapon(s).
- Armor skill lines increase through combat experience based on the equipped weight of the armor on the companion.
- Guild skill lines increase through completing specific solo daily quests associated with the guild, for the active companion.
- Racial skill lines do not include active abilities and are immediately applied based on the race of the companion.
How to increase and decrease the Companion Rapport in ESO
The Rapport function indicates how much a Companion likes or dislikes you. Depending on your actions in the world the Rapport can increase or decrease. Each Companion has personal preferences which you can learn about in their dialogue.
At a higher level of the Rapport, the Companion will share more personal details with you and unlock special quests. If the Rapport level is very low it may be that the Companion can not be summoned for a while.
- Rapport Overview for all Companions
- Bastian Rapport Info (Like/Dislike Mechanics)
- Mirri Rapport Info (Like/Dislike Mechanics)
- Ember Rapport Info (Like/Dislike Mechanics)
- Isobel Rapport Info (Like/Dislike Mechanics)
How to assign a Mount and Appearance to the Companion in ESO
In the Companion Menu in ESO on the top right side you want to visit the Collectibles section where you can assign costumes from the Appearance tab or mounts in the Mount tab.
- Any appearance or mount that you unlocked on your own characters can be utilized for the Companion.
- you can also change the outfit of a Companion at the Outfit Station.
Here you can see an example of both the Player and the Companion being on a mount in Blackwood.
ESO Companion Unique Non-Combat Perks
Each Companion also has unique non-combat perks.
- Mirri’s Expertise:
- Treasure Chests found through Treasure Maps and 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.
- Bastian’s Insight:
- Potions looted from chests and monsters have a 30% chance to be improved by Bastian’s Insight.
- Ember’s Intuition:
- Provides a chance to acquire hidden wallets of gold when pickpocketing
- Isobel’s Grace:
- Gives a chance to recover the pack of a slain knight when defeating world bosses, which may contain various supplies
- Azandar’s Inquisitiveness:
- When searching containers, bestows a chance to discover research portfolios. Portfolios can contain crafting recipes, treasure maps, research notes, survey reports, and other documents of value.
- Sharp-As-Night’s Patience:
- Fish bite at an increased rate and have a higher chance of being trophy fish.
Restrictions and Limitations of Companions in ESO
Each Companion counts towards the population cap of a certain instance as if they were a real player. Players will always take priority over a Companion.
- Companions can also not be summoned in PVP areas, solo arenas or housing instances.
- They also cannot be summoned while you are in combat or if the summoning character has not yet completed the associated introductory quest, even if the collectible has been unlocked by another character.
- If the relationship between the character and companion deteriorates into very low rapport states, the companion may voluntarily unsummon themselves and be unavailable to the associated character for a time.
- Companion visibility may also be briefly suppressed in some situations where they are unable to navigate to your character, such as while swimming.
Developer comments on ESO Companions
Lets take a look what ZOS had to say regarding the ESO Companions. This text is cited from the Blackwood Patch Notes PTS.
ZOS:
Companions are non-player characters who can aid you on your adventures throughout Tamriel. Once called to your side, these stalwart allies will assist you both in and out of combat. Fighting alongside your companion and taking actions they approve of will improve their effectiveness and allow you to build rapport, respectively.
As you earn their trust and strengthen your bonds of fellowship, your companion may share personal quests with you. You may also give them companion-specific gear and customize them in a wide variety of ways, including setting their abilities, mounts, costumes, outfits and more.
Acquisition and Activation
- If you have access to the Blackwood Chapter, you can unlock two companions through completing associated quests in the Blackwood zone.
- Bastian is found in the Deepscorn Hollow objective along the southwest coast of Blackwood
- Mirri is found in the Doomvault Vulpinaz objective in north Blackwood
- Once either objective is completed, the respective Companion collectible will be granted.
- These collectibles can be found in the Collections menu under a new top collectibles category of Allies, in the Companion subcategory. Assistants are considered allies and have been moved to their own subcategory accordingly.
- You may have either a Companion or an Assistant active.
- Companion collectibles may be activated from the Collections menu or quick slotted for ease of use.
Restrictions/Limitations
- In population-limited instances such as dungeons, group arenas and trials, each companion present counts toward the population cap as if they were a player.
- Players will always take priority and companions will be auto-dismissed as players zone in.
- Companions cannot be summoned in PvP areas, solo arenas or in housing instances. They also cannot be summoned while you are in combat or if the summoning character has not yet completed the associated introductory quest, even if the collectible has been unlocked by another character.
- If the relationship between the character and companion deteriorates into very low rapport states, the companion may voluntarily unsummon themselves and be unavailable to the associated character for a time.
- Companion visibility may also be briefly suppressed in some situations where they are unable to navigate to your character, such as while swimming.
Interaction and Customization
- To engage with your companion, simply initiate dialogue with them and select the Companion Menu dialogue option.
- This menu provides you with detailed information regarding the status of the companion, as well as tools for adjusting the companion’s combat behavior and visual customization.
- Beyond the Companion Menu, dialogue with your companion is also a way to get to know them better and their responses will vary based on rapport, quest status, and other factors.
- The overview section of the companion character tab provides a summary of Companion information including level, slotted abilities, rapport status, companion perk details and outfit application status.
- Combat
- Selecting the equipment option of the Companion character tab displays any companion equipment in your inventory which can be equipped on your companion via the display on the left.
- The skills tab of the Companion menu provides a list of available skill lines and associated abilities which may be slotted into the companion’s active ability bar.
- These abilities may have usage restrictions such as requiring a specific weapon type is equipped.
- Companions attempt to use their abilities in priority order from left to right, if they have a valid target and meet any associated requirements of the ability.
- Companion abilities utilize a cooldown system to determine frequency of usage, with various companion abilities having an array of cooldown times.
- Companions have a large pool of abilities available to them, which are thematically similar to abilities you may recognize from various skill lines.
- These abilities provide the opportunity to customize the companion’s combat role including tanking, healing, damage, and any hybridization desired to perfectly complement their player’s ability configuration.
Cosmetics
- Companions can be customized using many of your own cosmetic collectibles. This includes mounts, costumes and outfits!
- Companions have a default mount which they will utilize when you mount up, but this can be overridden through the Companion menu in the Collectibles tab.
- Unlocked costumes may be applied through the Collectibles tab as well, with any associated applied dyes being shared across your character and companion’s appearance per costume.
- Visiting an outfit station allows you to configure a dedicated outfit slot, with each companion having a dedicated slot per account. This outfit can be activated through the overview screen of the Companion UI.
- Note that a companion’s head armor is automatically hidden at all times and will not be displayed regardless of equipment or cosmetic override settings.
- Additionally, a small subset of mount, costume and outfit collectibles may not be usable by the companion based on gender, race, or other restrictions.
Progression
With the exception of quests and rapport, which collectively represents the relationship between each character and the companion, all Companion progress is account-wide.
- Combat Level
- Companions are level 1 when unlocked, with a limited set of ability bar slots and a maximum potential level of 20.
- Companions level up via experience gained with your character directly from combat.
- Experience increasing effects such as holiday bonuses and consumable boosters applied to your character will provide an indirect benefit to the companion as well.
- As companions gain combat levels, their health and overall power (which affects weapon and spell damage) increases automatically, additional ability bar slots unlock, and more class abilities become available. This includes an Ultimate slot and ability, which unlock at combat level 20.
- Skill Lines
- Companions have access to several skill lines, each with associated abilities. Most companion skill lines have 3 active abilities which can be acquired through leveling up of that skill line.
- Companion abilities do not require skill points to unlock and do not rank up or morph over time.
- Class Skill lines increase with the combat level of the companion.
- Weapon skill lines increase through combat experience based on the equipped weapon(s).
- Armor skill lines increase through combat experience based on the equipped weight of the armor on the companion.
- Guild skill lines increase through completing specific solo daily quests associated with the guild, for the active companion.
- Racial skill lines do not include active abilities and are immediately applied based on the race of the companion.
- Each companion unlocks with some progress in skill lines based on their background, as well as with multiple combat abilities pre-slotted so they are immediately combat ready. These may be changed as desired.
- Rapport
- Rapport with companions begins at cordial, based on the introductory quest experience and may go up and down over time, based on your actions with the active companion.
- All companions have strong personal preferences which you can learn about through dialogue and experimentation in the world. As rapport increases or falls, various thresholds will be met, with corresponding changes in the companion’s dialogue with you.
- At higher tiers of rapport, the companion will be inclined to share personal information with you and ask you for your assistance with associated quests.
- At lower tiers of rapport, the companion may choose to part ways with you for a certain amount of time.
- Rapport adjustments are displayed in real time in the loot stream and have limitations on how often they can be triggered for both positive and negative rapport events.
- The current rapport status can always be viewed on the overview window of the Companion UI.
- Equipment and Sourcing
- Companion equipment is distinct from player gear with no overlap between them. Companion gear unlocks with a set of untraited white equipment based on their background.
- Bastian begins wearing Medium Armor and a Destruction Staff while Mirri starts off with Light Armor and a Bow.
- Companion equipment does not include level, cannot be enchanted, does not require repairs and does not include an inherent style appearance, but instead inherits the style of the companion it’s applied to.
- White companion equipment can be purchased from Weaponsmith, Woodworker, Armorer, Leatherworker, and Tailor merchants throughout the world, allowing you to customize your companion role accordingly.
- Fine (green), superior (blue) and epic (purple) quality companion equipment with traits are obtained from monster drops throughout the world, particularly from bosses.
- This equipment can be traded so it can be bought and sold on the market.
- Equipment above white quality also comes with companion-centric 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 equipment is distinct from player gear with no overlap between them. Companion gear unlocks with a set of untraited white equipment based on their background.
Quest and Rewards
- In addition to the Blackwood quest objective which introduces and unlocks the respective companions, each companion has two associated personal side quests which will become available to you once a sufficient rapport has been established.
- Completing the second companion quest will unlock a houseguest collectible of the companion, allowing them to be placed and utilized similarly to other houseguest collectibles.
- Completing any Companion side quest will result in a large rapport boost.
Perks and Keepsakes
- Each companion has a unique associated non-combat perk which benefits you while active.
- Mirri’s Expertise: Treasure Chests found through Treasure Maps and 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.
- Bastian’s Insight: Potions looted from chests and monsters have a 30% chance to be improved by Bastian’s Insight.
- By completing meta-achievements associated with each companion, you can unlock a keepsake collectible for each companion 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.
Responsiveness and Miscellaneous items
- Companions can respond to a wide array of situations that occur while adventuring with you, both in and out of combat.
- While they will always respond to some critical triggers, you can adjust the frequency your companion will vocally respond by opening the settings menu, selecting gameplay, and adjusting the “Companion Reactions” setting to Infrequent, Normal, and Frequent.
- Beyond ability and equipment selection, companions can also be directed in battle in a couple additional ways.
- While companions will always attempt to engage in combat to support you, utilizing pet commands allows you to direct the companion to engage with specific targets or to pull back, respectively.
- By default, hold Y and left or right clicking on mouse and keyboard, or press L3+R3 along with the left or right bumper on gamepad.
- Additionally, companions will utilize their Ultimate when available and conditions are met by default. However, you can choose to have them wait until directed to utilize it.
- The Companion Ultimate Auto Cast setting in gameplay section of the settings menu allows you to set the companion to wait until they are directed to use their Ultimate by clicking on the new Ultimate icon which is present next to your hotkey bar when a companion is active on keyboard, or pressing L3+R3 with no bumper input on gamepad.
- While companions will always attempt to engage in combat to support you, utilizing pet commands allows you to direct the companion to engage with specific targets or to pull back, respectively.
- Companions will also attempt to block incoming heavy attacks, interrupt some abilities and break free from crowd control effects. However, their timing is not always perfect, and they do have a cooldown between uses of these actions.
- If a companion dies in battle, they can be revived using a soul gem, similar to reviving other players.
- Any companion who is still defeated at the end of combat will recover within a few seconds of battle concluding.
Related Content:
- Companion Overview Page
- Bastian Companion Build
- Mirri Companion Build
- Ember Companion Build
- Isobel Companion Build
FAQ Companions for ESO
Frequently asked question about the Companion System in ESO.
To unlock the Companion Isobel Velois in ESO you will have to complete her questline. The Companion Isobel Veloise can be found at Castle Navire on the southwest coast of High Isle. The quest that you have to complete to unlock Isoble is called “Tournament of the Heart”.
To unlock the Companion Ember The Khajiit in ESO you will have to complete her questline. Ember can be found in at Draioch just north of Gonfalon Bay, the main city of High Isle. The quest that you have to complete to unlock Ember is called “Tower full of Trouble”.
Companions level up simply by gaining experience points from killing enemies. You can grind your way to max level to unlock all the Companions features if you prefer this. The Mages Guild, Fighters Guild and Undaunted are unlocked by simply completing a daily from these Guilds. To level up the Mages Guild, Fighters Guild and Undaunted you will have to complete dailies for the guilds repeatedly till you reach the max level.
- For anything related to grinding I do recommend reading the Grind Guide.
In the Companion Menu on the top right side you want to visit the Collectibles section where you can assign costumes from the Appearance tab or mounts in the Mount tab.
- Any appearance or mount that you unlocked on your own characters can be utilized for the Companion.
- you can also change the outfit of a Companion at the Outfit Station.
Here you can see an example of both the Player and the Companion being on a mount in Blackwood.
The rapport describes what kind of relationship you have with a companion. Every companion has personal preferences which will affect how they feel about the player over time, based on their actions. Acting against a companion’s ideals will cause their rapport with the companion to decrease. Taking actions they favor will drive the player’s rapport with that companion up.
Companions won’t be able to be summoned in PvP instances, in single player arenas or in housing instances. Also, in instances where you can’t navigate to your character and talk to them, they will be briefly invisible, such as while swimming.
Companion gear in ESO is different from player gear, there is no overlap between them. Once you unlock a Companion, they will start out with basic white quality non-traited equipment.
Companion equipment doesn’t have levels, can’t be enchanted, doesn’t require repairs and doesn’t include an inherent style appearance.
You can purchase basic companion gear from a Weaponsmith, Woodworker, Armorer, Leatherworker and Tailor merchants to customize the role of your companion accordingly.
Higher quality gear can be obtained from monster drops throughout the world, particularly from bosses.
The Companion System in ESO is a new feature of the game that launched with the Blackwood Chapter. This allows you to summon a Companion (basically like a 2nd character) that will follow you around. The Companion can help fight, be it as a damage dealer, healer or tank. Currently there are two Companions, Mirri Elendis a Dark Elf and Bastian Hallix an Imperial.
You can find more info about the Companion System in the Companion System Guide.
Bastian Hallix Guides:
Mirri Elendis Guides:
If you have access to the Blackwood Chapter, you can unlock Bastian Hallix through completing the associated quest in the Blackwood zone.
- The Companion level up progress is account wide, so you only have to level Bastian up once.
- You have to unlock Bastian Hallix on each character through the started quest.
Bastian can be found in the Deepscorn Hollow objective along the southwest coast of Blackwood. The quest that you have to complete is called “Competition and Contracts”.
If you have access to the Blackwood Chapter, you can unlock Mirri Elendis through completing the associated quest in the Blackwood zone.
- The Companion level up progress is account wide, so you only have to level Mirri up once.
- You have to unlock Mirri Elendis on each character through the started quest.
Mirri can be found in the Doomvault Vulpinaz objective in north Blackwood. The quest that you have to complete is called “Shattered and Scattered”.
If you have access to the Blackwood Chapter, you can unlock two companions through completing associated quests in the Blackwood zone.
- The Companion level up progress is account wide.
- You have to unlock the Companions on each character.
Bastian Companion Location
Bastian can be found in the Deepscorn Hollow objective along the southwest coast of Blackwood. The quest that you have to complete is called “Competition and Contracts”.
Mirri Companion Location
Mirri can be found in the Doomvault Vulpinaz objective in north Blackwood. The quest that you have to complete is called “Shattered and Scattered”.
