Welcome to the ESO Zerith-var Companion Basics Guide. Zerith-var is one of the Companions acquired from the Crown Store that you can gain access to in ESO. Companions are built so they can fulfill any role, which means you can play Zerith-var as a damage dealer, healer or tank. In this guide we are going to take a look at the basics of Zerith-var, how to unlock him, how to level him up, skills and more.
Table of Contents
- How to Unlock Zerith-var in ESO
- Leveling Zerith-var
- Zerith-var Companion Perk, furniture and houseguest
- How to obtain Gear for Zerith-var
- Skills for Zerith-var
- Rapport and quests for Zerith-var
- Roles and Builds
- Zerith-Var Lore
Unlock Zerith-var Companion in ESO
To unlock the companion Zerith-var in ESO, you must first navigate to the Crown Store and purchase either the “Zerith-var, Khajiit out of time” for 1000 Crowns or “Tanlorin and Zerith-var” bundle for 1,500 Crowns. These bundles are free to claim if you have an active ESO Plus subscription.
After claiming the bundle for the first time, his quest “A Moonlit Shadow” is auto accepted and added into your journal. You find Zerith-vars quest NPC Cantor Krin’ze just south of Moonmont Shrine in Reaper’s March. All of your other characters will find Cantor Krin’ze in this same spot and can accept the “A Moonlit Shadow” quest from him directly.
After unlocking Zerith-var, you can summon him from the Collections UI and add him to your Quickslot.
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- Unlock Zerith-var companion from the ESO Crown Store
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- Zerith-var companion quest is started by an NPC called Cantor Krin’ze.
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- You can summon Zerith-var in ESO directly from the Collectibles UI or drag the icon to the Quickslot and use it through there.
Leveling Zerith-var in ESO
Companions like Zerith-var in ESO level up simply by gaining 25% your experience from killing enemies, not to worry; they don’t take a cut from your experience, you still gain the full 100%. Wearing training gear and consuming Experience Boosts like Scrolls and Ambrosias will also boost your companions XP gain.
List of Experience Boosts in ESO that help with Companion leveling
- Consumables
- Crown Experience Scrolls 50%, 100%, 150%.
- Psijic Ambrosia 50%.
- Aetherial Ambrosia 100%.
- Mythic Aetherial Ambrosia 150%.
- Gear
- Armor Training Trait up to 11% per armor piece.
- Weapon Training Trait up to 4.5% for one-handed and 9% for two-handed.
- Mora’s Whispers Set up to 15% based on how many Lorebooks your character has read. (Enable Lorebooks filter on our interactive map to see where they’re located).
- Heartland Conqueror boost your training weapon trait by 100% (up to for 9% one-hand and 18% for two-hand weapons).
- Other
- Rationer Champion Point adds 10 minutes to the duration of Ambrosias.
- Connoisseur Provisioning Passive adds 5/10/20 minutes duration to Ambrosias.
- Active ESO Plus Subscription: 10%.
- Grouped up with one player 10% (a group larger than two will decrease your XP gain).
- ESO Events that include a passive Experience Gain Boost.
- Pledge of Mara Ring adds 10% Experience Gain when worn and grouped up with the player the Ring of Mara is pledged on. (Bought from the Crown Store for 1000 Crowns).
- High Elf Race passive Highborn gives 1% bonus to Experience Gain.
How to unlock and level up Companion Guild Skill Lines
The Mages Guild, Fighters Guild and Undaunted are unlocked by completing daily quests from these guilds. To level up the Companion Guild Skill Lines, you will have to complete their dailies for repeatedly till you reach the max level. You can also grind your way to max level to unlock all the Companions features if you prefer this:
You are able to do 15 different Mages, Fighters and Undaunted Guild Daily quests per day, per character in ESO if you have someone share their quests with you. Each base game zone has a quest associated with them excluding started zones. Keep in mind that your character will only receive Guild Dailies for the zones you have unlocked a wayshrine in.
A way to minmax Guild Dailies in ESO
- Save quests on certain zones on your alts (as an example: Deshaan Public Dungeon, Deshaan Delve and Deshaan Dark Anchor).
- Share them to other players.
- Have them share the quest to your character you want to complete them with.
How to unlock and level up Companion Armor and Weapon Skill lines
Companion Light, Medium and Heavy armor skill lines in ESO are unlocked by having 3 of the same weight on at the same, but keep in mind that the armor skill line only levels up if you have 5 of the same armor weight on. Your companion has 7 armor slots which means you can only level one armor weight at a time.
Companion Weapon Skill Lines in ESO are unlocked by equipping the weapon you want to use. Weapon Skill line levels up through combat experience based on the equipped weapon.
Zerith-var Companion Perk furniture and houseguest in ESO
Zerith-vars perk “Ja’kh’s Bell of Bounty” makes heavy sacks in the world glow similarly how chests glows after unlocking the Keen Eye: Treasure Chests passive from the Excavation skill line. Additionally there will be small spirit cat paw prints around the glowing heavy sacks. The perk is active while Zerith-var is summoned and once you have completed the The Twilight Path achievement it will always be active on all of your characters.
After completing the final quest “The Dark Behind the World” for Zerith-var, he will be added to your Collectibles UI as a houseguest. As a houseguest, Zerith-var doesn’t wear his armor and has changed to some less restrictive clothing. All houseguests including companions can be placed in to all of your homes.
Zerith-var companion furniture Sky Spirits Reflection Pool can be purchased from Athrahgor in Rawl’kha’s The March Bazaar after completing The Twilight Path meta-achievement. The Twilight Path achievement requires you to have completed all personal quests, have maximum rapport, summon him at his maximum level and complete the ESO Zerith-var’s Favor achievement.
- Zerith-var’s Favor achievement requirements
- Complete a Daily Quest for Zahari in Grahtwood with Zerith-var
- Complete any Tales of Tribute Daily Quest with Zerith-var
- Complete a Dark Anchor with Zerith-var
- Visit the Bandaari Trading Post in Malabal Tor with Zerith-var
- Offer a Donation to a Beggar with Zerith-var
- You can see all Beggar spawn locations on our interactive map by going to a base-game zone and enabling “Give to the Poor” filter from the left-hand side.
- Loot a Water Skin with Zerith-var
ESO Sky Spirits Reflection Pool Zerith-var Companion Furniture includes the Ja’kh spirit cat.
How to obtain gear for Zerith-var in ESO
Companion gear in ESO is different from player gear, there is no overlap between them. Once you unlock a Companion like Zerith-var, they will start out with basic white quality equipment with no traits.
- 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. You can buy Companion Gear through Guild Traders.
Possible traits that you can use on your ESO Companions
- 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)
Skills for Zerith-var in ESO
The Companion Zerith-var has to choose from. Each of the roles/builds below will have a different allocation of skills. It is important to note that Companions will automatically use skills and the ultimate in order based on how they are set on the skill bar, basically going from 1 to 5 and then using their Ultimate.
You can find a full list of all the available skills for the Companion Zerith-var on ESO-Hub.com in the Companion Skills: Zerith-var Overview Page.
Zerith-var Class Skills
- Class: Guardian’s Commitment
- Class: Remedy of Atonement
Weapon Skills
Equip the companion with one of these weapons to unlock the skill line.
Armor Skills
Guild Skills
Guild skill lines are leveled up by doing guild daily quests.
Zerith-var Race Skills
Zerith-var Rapport and quests
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 for Zerith-var in ESO. 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.
Zerith-var Companion Personal Quests
- A Moonlight Shadow (Starter quest)
- Beyond a Veil of Twilight (Friendly: 1000 Rapport)
- Paths Out of Darkness (Close: 2000 Rapport)
- The Dark Behind the World (Allied: 3000 Rapport)
Disapproval Zerith-var Rapport
- Gain Vampirism from the Scion of the Blood Matron quest. -50
- Inflict other players with Vampirism -25
- Talking to Cadwell -5
- Visit the Hollow City in Coldharbour -5
- Get a bounty from using Necromancer ‘s Criminal Act skills -5
- Consume a Corrupting Bloody Mara -5
- Sell or Launder stolen items -5
- Fill a Soul Gem with Soul Trap and its morphs or with the Oblivion’s Edge set (Soul Lock passive will not affect his Rapport) -1
- Murder civilians -1
- Use the Blade of Woe -1
Approval Zerith-var Rapport
- Completing personal quest +500 (once per Character)
- Complete a Northern Elsweyr Defense Force Daily Quest +125
- How to unlock the ESO Northern Elsweyr Defense Force Daily Quest: Start by picking up the free prologue quest “The Demon Weapon” from the Crown Store. Once you have excited Halls of Colossus and completed the prologue quest, you will have access to the Northern Elsweyr Defense Force Daily Quest in Grahtwood. Daily Quest Giver Zahari will not spawn until you have completed the prologue.
- Complete a Tales of Tribute Daily Quest +125
- Complete a multi-part antiquity +25 (unconfirmed if only for the first complete or subsequent ones as well)
- Complete the second Elsweyr Chapter Prologue Quest (The Halls of Colossus) +10
- Unearth an Antiquity +10
- Kill a Dragon +10/+1
- Destroy a Dark Anchor +10
- Complete a Tales of Tribute match (doesn’t matter if you win or lose) +10
- Consume a Purifying Bloody Mara +10
- Heal yourself while in a critical state (red edges on the screen) +10
- Unearthing an antiquity +5
- Looting a Heavy Sack +5
- Visit the Baandari Trading Post in Malabal Tor +5
- Harvest from a Water node +5
- Defeat Tho’at Replicanum in the Infinite Archive +5
- Defeat a Cycle Boss in the Infinite Archive +1
- Kill a Vampire +1
- Kill a Skeleton +1
- Kill dro-m’Athra/ Dar-m’Athra in Moonmont +1
Huge thank you to ESO Forum user Maitsukas for collecting the rapport sources.
Roles and Builds for Zerith-var Companion
You can set different combat behaviors for your Zerith-var Companion. Depending on what you try to do, you can either set him as a damage dealer, healer or tank. It is also recommended to check out the setups below for the preferred setup, because you want to change the gear and skill priority depending on the role.
ESO Zerith-var Companion works best if played as a ranged role, that way you can avoid a lot of deaths for them.
- Magicka Damage Dealer
- Stamina Damage Dealer
- Bow
- Two Hander
- Dual Wield
- Healer
- Tank
Zerith-Var Lore – Meet the Character
cited from the official ESO website regarding the Zerith-Var Companion.
Correspondence discovered with “The Ballad of Khunzar-ri,” a long and unfinished moon-singer composition dated to the late First Era.
My dear friend Talbira,
When you receive this, it will be more than a year since I entered partnership with Zerith-var. I cannot believe it has been that long already! He is much changed from when I first met him. Or perhaps I should say he is much more himself. You have known him longer and would know better. I find he is more the high-minded acolyte of the Hidden Moon that you described than the aloof hothead who took Azurah’s teachings of self-love too seriously that I first judged him to be.
When you chose me for partnership with one of the Order of the Hidden Moon, I had notions that traveling with a necromancer would be dour and serious. A true test of my faith. Instead, my days are filled with travel and song, meaningful work, and good conversation. Zerith is warm and easy-going, making friends wherever we travel. But he takes his service to Azurah seriously, endeavoring never to stray from his twilight path. I am every day in awe of his commitment, for he makes it look so very easy.
We have journeyed far, tending to those most in need of my healing songs or Zerith’s blade. And we talk of you fondly and often. You’ll smile to know that I, too, have now had to tear this cat away from watching games of five-claw cards or war dice. Thank Azurah that we have little gold with which he might gamble. But we are all right. Zerith’s upbringing gave him light fingers, so we are never in want of anything—rather, never anything that another might sorely miss.
And while I am happier than I have been in some time, there is no denying that we face many dangers in our travels. Everything from dro-m’Athra to beasts that stalk the Tenmar Forest. I am little good at fighting or defending, not being a warrior like Zerith. But I endeavor to learn songs of battle and train with him further. I will look out for him, the same as he watches over me. This I vow.
But look at me, going on like this. The purpose of this letter was to send you the rubbings you asked for from the Ko’krin Zhab. I send with it a vial of the sacred waters found within. May both aid you in the songs you write in honor of the Laughing Lion. Perhaps Zerith and I can hear your progress when next we meet in person.
Azurah guide you,
Ravith
Zerith-Var reaction lines
- Until you rise again.
- Swift as Khenarthi!
- Rahdiit! Hai!
- Dur dad’na!
- We ride.
- We move with the wind.
- Ahzith rabah.
- Many paths await us.
- Hahl fajh’na! You just never know the way these games will go. (When losing a Tales of Tribute match)
- So tempting to play … but if I do, you will never pry me away. Better that I watch. For now. (Playing a Tales of Tribute match)
- Very clever playing, tamiit. I wish I had the wits to play like you. (Playing a Tales of Tribute match)
- I think I read about this place! In a book from my time. It is quite different from what I recall. … Perhaps I misremember. Pay me no mind.
- Let this be a lesson.
- Jo’zhet! A new level of strength and understanding. (Zerith-var level up)
- They left us no choice. (Killing a zombie/enemy)
- With haste!
- I like this Zahari. She seems a dependable sort. The kind one might see among the Hidden Moon. (completing a Northern Elsweyr Defense Daily quest in Grahtwood)
- Trajii ba’vedik!
- That lock did not stand a chance. (After using force lock on a chest)
- Send them running!
- Ka’is, jekosiit! Let us fight!
- What is this strength? The might of Alkosh, perhaps?
- Miir traj’zho! Such power!
- Fajh’na. Let this be quick!
- One would think creatures as brittle as glass would break more easily. Well done, tamiit. (while fighting Shardborn)
- Fif’zah!
- By the Hidden Moon!
- Tamiit … my wounds …. (when close to death)
- A fitting reward for such well-played victories. Let us see it done again soon. (Returning a Tales of Tribute Daily quest)
- Everything is brighter when we travel together.
- I have sought trouble in worse places. I am with you.
- I will watch over you.
- Dad’na eksa vijah.
- A very deserving find.
- We did what we had to.
- Bebaj-var. It is done.
- Kes kridesi. Another fight?
- Var, var, var!
- May your bones serve better.
Related Companion Content
- Zerith-var Builds Guide
- Companion Category Overview Page
- Companion Basics Guide
- Tanlorin Basics Guide
- Ember Basics Guide
- Mirri Basics Guide
- Bastian Basics Guide
- Isobel Basics Guide
- Sharp-as-Night Basics Guide
- Azandar Basics Guide
FAQ Companions
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”.
