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Companions Insight and Alchemy

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  • December 26, 2017

     

    Companions Insight seems pretty straight forward at first. It's useful for nullifying splash damage and friendly fire when one utilizes followers...but what if I told you there was more to it than that? There is. As it turns out, Companions Insight doesn't stop allies from being struck by your attacks. It simply removes the negative effects of whatever's hitting them.

    Why does this small distinction matter? Well, since your follower is still hit, and only damage and negative effects are removed, they will still benefit from any healing or buffs like those achieved with positive effect poisons. So poisons like this:

     

    Bear Claw+ Blisterwort+Blue Mountain Flower

    +Restore 76pt Health

    +Fortify Health 48pt for 60sec

    -Damage Magicka Regen 100pt for 76sec

     

    ...will only Restore and Fortify the Health of your follower. This is superior to Heal Other and Rally spells for several reasons:

     

    • You don't have to invest in two different magic schools to access both Restore and Fortify Attribute effects. ‎In fact, they can often be combined (as above) into one concoction.

     

    • ‎The top tier potion effects will generally exceed their spell-based counterparts and can even be resto-looped past that if you choose to do so.

     

    • ‎Poisons can be applied to bows for accurate long range application and even benefits from archery perks like Steady Hand. This makes it much easier to buff/heal from a safe distance than with spells.

     

    • Unlike Restoration or pre-Master of the Mind Illusion spells, these poisons will affect player summoned Deadra and Zombies (excluding Soul Carin summons and any creatures that were immune to poison before being reanimated).

     

    • ‎There are more follower effects available to Alchemist than mages, namely Fortify Heavy Armor, Fortify Light Armor, Resist Magic, Resist Poison, Resist Fire/Frost/Shock and Waterbreathing.

     

    Cool right? Well I'm still not done! Ever switch to Healing Hands to save an ally only have enemies rush your now defenseless character? Ever charge a spell or poison an arrow only for your follower to change position and block your shot? Ever use a poison on one enemy and wish you could change the effect on the next shot but you have the Concentrated Poison Perk? Well fret not, because with Companions Insight you can brew poisons that have completely different effects depending on who they hit! For instance:

     

    Eye of Sabre Cat+Imp Stool+Scathcraw

    -15pt Damage over 10sec

    -30pt Poison Damage

    +Restore 45pt Health

     

    The above poison won't have either Damage Health effect if they hit a follower while Companions Insight is active, making it simply a Potion of Restore 45pt Health. Alternatively, if it hits an enemy then just one second of the Lingering Health Damage combines with the Damage Health effect to match the strength of the Restore Health. These cancel out, leaving 135 damage to occur over the next nine seconds.

    So whether you're ambushed while trying to heal an ally, you want to make the most effective use of Concentrated Poisons, or you simply miss your mark... concoctions like these are useful in nearly any circumstance (even when the circumstance changes). There are plenty of possibilities for effects that cancel each other out like above, but you can also just give enemies a buff that they cant use. Fortify Heavy Armor won't help most bandits much, Restore Magicka isn't really going to matter to Hold Guards, ect...

    I hope this all made sense. To see these concepts in practice, check out my latest build, The Crystal Archer.

  • Member
    January 1, 2018

    Just another reason why Alchemy is the most versatile of all crafting skills... great stuff Ty!

    This article is currently being featured on the TV Twitter page (you've got back to back billing with the Crystal Archer ;D).

  • January 2, 2018

    ShinJin said:

    Just another reason why Alchemy is the most versatile of all crafting skills... great stuff Ty!

    This article is currently being featured on the TV Twitter page (you've got back to back billing with the Crystal Archer ;D).

     

    Thanks man, that's awesome!

  • Member
    January 3, 2018

    Yeah, just gave this a second (and third) read, and am more and more impressed with how much fun a person could have using the info you've got here. 

    Also, after an annoying struggle to prove to Facebook that I am, indeed, a real human being, this post is finally being featured on the TV Facebook page as well ;D