The Elder Scrolls Online just released their latest DLC, Blackwood. The Elder Scrolls Online Blackwood comes with lots of goodies, including companions.

Companions are more than an NPC pet to join you on adventures. Companions are customizable, interactive NPCs with intriguing, yet mysterious backstories.

How to Unlock Companions in The Elder Scrolls Blackwood

With ESO Blackwood being a very new DLC, there are only two unlockable companions for now. Yes, you need the Blackwood Chapter to unlock your new adventuring buddies.

The companions, Mirri Elendis and Bastian Hallix are both in the newly unlocked area of Blackwood. To unlock them, you need to complete their individual questlines, neither of which are long.

You do have to unlock the companions on each of your characters. But one cool thing is that leveling up your companions is account-wide. Your companion’s gear also carries over to your other characters. You just have to do the questline on each of your characters.

Unlocking Mirri Elendis

Mirri Elendis is in Northern Blackwood at Doomvault Vulpinaz. You will find her standing in front of the Doomvault Vulpinaz ruins. Once you talk to Mirri, you will be given the quest “Shattered and Scattered” to complete. It takes about 20-25 minutes to get through on a low-level character.

Unlocking Bastian Hallix

Bastian Hallix is an honorable Imperial Knight sent to find his annoying, prone-to-trouble, kinda brother. Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but you’ll have to unlock him to learn more. He tracked his brother to Deepscorn Hollow and enlists your help to rescue him.

Bastian Hallix is in Southern Blackwood above Deepscorn Hollow. Bastian will be tied to a short log. Talk to him and free him to start the quest “Competition and Contracts.”

Who are the Companions in The Elder Scrolls Blackwood?

Companions are more than just sidekicks to travel around Tamriel with you. Though you can unlock both companions, but you can only have one out at a time. They each have their own backstories, skills, abilities, likes, and dislikes. Depending on what you are doing, one companion may be better suited than the other.

You can level up each companion in combat. You can build a rapport with them to improve your relationship by doing things they like. But you can also decrease rapport when you do something they don’t like. Rapport shows how much your companion likes or dislikes you. Do things they approve of to increase your rapport.

About Mirri Elendis

Mirri is a Dunmer or Dark Elf who loves adventure. She’s a trained archer, but she can be specialized for Tank, Restoration, and both melee and magicka damage.

Mirri Approves of…

Mirri likes when you excavate antiquities, when you make alcoholic drinks, and when you discover lore books. She also doesn’t mind if you steal. “It’s only stealing if you get caught, right,” Mirri will tell you. Mirri also loves visiting Daedric public dungeons, ruins, and delves.

The quickest way to build rapport with Mirri is to complete daily quests from Mages Guild and Fighters Guild. Oh, craft alcoholic beverages. She loves a good beer!

Mirri Disapproves of…

• Using Blade of Woe (the Dark Brotherhood ability). After Mirri and I brutally murderized (this is my word) several bad guys, Mirri judged me incredibly harshly for using Blade of Woe. “No one deserves to die like that.” Your rapport with Mirri will decrease.

• Visiting the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. Mirri will literally panic once inside. Dismiss her before entering.

• Collecting Flying Insects. She’s a Dunmer who values nature. Of course, picking flying insects is going to rub her the wrong way.

About Bastian Hallix

Bastian is a goodie-two-shoes. You just can’t have fun with him around. And by fun, I mean stealing, killing, and eating cheese! He’s a buzzkill.

Bastian Approves of…

• Collecting Runestones

• Going to Crafting Stations

• Reading from Bookshelves

Bastian Disapproves of…

Everything. No, kidding. But it does seem like it. Like Mirri, Bastian doesn’t like the following Using Blade of Woe or Visiting the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. He also doesn’t like:

• Looting Thieves Troves

• Random Killings, especially NPCs

• Stealing of any kind

How to Access Your Companions

Accessing your companions is quite simple. Your companions will be stored in your Collections Tab under the label Allies. Right-click on the companion you want to accompany you and “Set Active”. You can “dismiss” your companion the same way.

I’m sure there will be more companions in the coming updates. We’ll try to stay up to date. In the meantime, if there’s anything we missed, let us know. This is meant to be a quick guide, but still. There’s always room for improvement.