Active followers (which ones)

[ksaf]

So i reached level 110 and happily did the quest chain to get my remaning followers. Then i found out that you can have only 5 active at a time. Yay. Anyway, i just would like to ask you guys which ones have you chosen to be the active ones. You can easily cover the basic abilities but which bonuses you favor?
thanks and sorry for the grammar, not my first language.

[Archimtiros]

So i reached level 110 and happily did the quest chain to get my remaning followers. Then i found out that you can have only 5 active at a time. Yay. Anyway, i just would like to ask you guys which ones have you chosen to be the active ones. You can easily cover the basic abilities but which bonuses you favor?
thanks and sorry for the grammar, not my first language.

I don't think it really matters as long as you have every available counter. Missions seem to work different now, in that they're more dynamic and the threats vary based on what counters you have available (from what I've seen, I can't say if this is entirely true, or only some vary, etc, I only know that I've had the same mission as others with different threats).

That said, I choose my team based their special (uncommon quality) ability, as that is the only major difference between them, and often necessary for completing the bonus objective.

Protection

• Finna Bjornsdottir - Shield Charge - Is simple and works on a variety of missions.
• Svergan Stormcloak - Royal Bloodline - Is again simple and easy to get at least a 15% boost out of for almost all missions.

Arms

• Ragnvald Drakeborn - Commanding Shout - Also really easy to proc, and can get very high numbers.
• Thorim - Titan's Wrath - Straightforward and easy to use. Not quite as effective for later missions with a lot of counters, but works well when it does work.
• King Ymiron - Screams of the Dead - Pretty bad in my opinion. A [I]chance/I] to save a 30m cooldown and trivial amount of resources; pass.

Fury

• Hymdall - Gatekeeper - Really good once you get into the later mission types which require ilvl, and works out really well with similar equipment effects.
• Hodir - Frozen Blows - Very similar to Finna, except a different counter.
• Dvalen Ironrune - Enrage - Pretty niche, can't really plan on when it'll be available, and you don't want to wait for it to be if it's not. The bonus isn't high enough IMO to outweigh the others.

You can only have 5 champions, so obviously you want at least one of each type, and want to be able to counter all mission threats. In my opinion, the best one from each category is:

• Finna - Pummel
• Ragnvald - Whirlwind
• Hymdall - Leap

These three cover all threats and have strong bonuses to boot. Finna and Svergan are both really strong in my opinion, but Finna's Pummel makes her an automatic choice for me, as the only other Champions that bring it are Dvalen and Ymirion, both of whom I find have weaker bonuses.

Now we have two spots left over. You probably want a Combat Ally, so the first decision is between:

• Finna - Random proc, 1.5m internal CD.
• Dvalen - Bodyguard.
• Thorim - 2m CD (it says 3m, it's actually 2), short AoE stun (3s?). 3m 25% AP buff (in other words, it can be kept up 100% of the time).
• Hodir - 3m CD 8s stun, deals more damage than Thorim, but doesn't provide a personal buff.

Personally, I find Thorim and Hodir to be the best allies, because you can control them. I don't really like Finna because she often procs when you don't want her to, and her cooldown prohibits her from appearing when you do (she also procs on and chases non-hostile targets such as neutral mobs and PvP zone/server players not actively engaged in combat). She's also really important for her Pummel, since the other two champions which offer it are, in my opinion, pretty weak. Likewise, I'm not a fan of Dvalen for similar reasons.

Another important thing to remember is that Combat Allies can easily be taken on and off, meaning you can use them for the occasional mission, and so they should complement your group. This is another reason I favor Thorim or Hodir, as they're both strong but not necessary for the majority of missions.

Finally, filling the last spot is a matter of preference. If you're following along, we're left with:

• Svergan
• Ymiron
• Dvalen
• Thorim
• Hodir

I choose Hodir or Svergan mainly because I find their bonuses to be the strongest, but really any of them work.

This means my five Champions of choice are:
Finna
Hodir/Svergan
Ragnvald
Hymdall
Thorim (Ally)

Providing the following counters:
2 Protection
2 Arms (1 backup)
1 Fury
1 Pummel - Protection
2 Whirlwind - Protection & Arms
2 Heroic Leap - Fury & Arms (backup)

As I said in the beginning, there's a lot of flexibility, and I don't really think there's any "right" choice as long as you counter all the threats. The biggest influence is probably who you take as a Combat Ally. For example, if you favor Finna, you're almost required to use Svergan and Dvalen or Ymiron, otherwise you're unable to cover Protection and Pummel effectively, which in turn influences your choice of other Arms/Fury Champions. The only Champion I actively avoid is Ymirion, as I find his bonus the poorest of the lot.

I'm working on making a (hopefully easier to read) version for my guides, so feel free to critique.

[ksaf]

That was an incredibly well thought and helpful response. Thank you very much.

[Bethrezen]

Wow. Those are the exact five ones I chose to pick a couple days ago for similar thoughts based on their abilities. Feelsgoodman!

[Gottalot]

I don't think it really matters as long as you have every available counter. Missions seem to work different now, in that they're more dynamic and the threats vary based on what counters you have available (from what I've seen, I can't say if this is entirely true, or only some vary, etc, I only know that I've had the same mission as others with different threats).

That said, I choose my team based their special (uncommon quality) ability, as that is the only major difference between them, and often necessary for completing the bonus objective.

Protection

• Finna Bjornsdottir - Shield Charge - Is simple and works on a variety of missions.
• Svergan Stormcloak - Royal Bloodline - Is again simple and easy to get at least a 15% boost out of for almost all missions.

Arms

• Ragnvald Drakeborn - Commanding Shout - Also really easy to proc, and can get very high numbers.
• Thorim - Titan's Wrath - Straightforward and easy to use. Not quite as effective for later missions with a lot of counters, but works well when it does work.
• King Ymiron - Screams of the Dead - Pretty bad in my opinion. A [I]chance/I] to save a 30m cooldown and trivial amount of resources; pass.

Fury

• Hymdall - Gatekeeper - Really good once you get into the later mission types which require ilvl, and works out really well with similar equipment effects.
• Hodir - Frozen Blows - Very similar to Finna, except a different counter.
• Dvalen Ironrune - Enrage - Pretty niche, can't really plan on when it'll be available, and you don't want to wait for it to be if it's not. The bonus isn't high enough IMO to outweigh the others.

You can only have 5 champions, so obviously you want at least one of each type, and want to be able to counter all mission threats. In my opinion, the best one from each category is:

• Finna - Pummel
• Ragnvald - Whirlwind
• Hymdall - Leap

These three cover all threats and have strong bonuses to boot. Finna and Svergan are both really strong in my opinion, but Finna's Pummel makes her an automatic choice for me, as the only other Champions that bring it are Dvalen and Ymirion, both of whom I find have weaker bonuses.

Now we have two spots left over. You probably want a Combat Ally, so the first decision is between:

• Finna - Random proc, 1.5m internal CD.
• Dvalen - Bodyguard.
• Thorim - 2m CD (it says 3m, it's actually 2), short AoE stun (3s?). 3m 25% AP buff (in other words, it can be kept up 100% of the time).
• Hodir - 3m CD 8s stun, deals more damage than Thorim, but doesn't provide a personal buff.

Personally, I find Thorim and Hodir to be the best allies, because you can control them. I don't really like Finna because she often procs when you don't want her to, and her cooldown prohibits her from appearing when you do (she also procs on and chases non-hostile targets such as neutral mobs and PvP zone/server players not actively engaged in combat). She's also really important for her Pummel, since the other two champions which offer it are, in my opinion, pretty weak. Likewise, I'm not a fan of Dvalen for similar reasons.

Another important thing to remember is that Combat Allies can easily be taken on and off, meaning you can use them for the occasional mission, and so they should complement your group. This is another reason I favor Thorim or Hodir, as they're both strong but not necessary for the majority of missions.

Finally, filling the last spot is a matter of preference. If you're following along, we're left with:

• Svergan
• Ymiron
• Dvalen
• Thorim/Hodir

I choose Svergan mainly because I find Royal Bloodline to be the strongest bonus, but really any of them work.

This means my five Champions of choice are:
Finna
Svergan
Ragnvald
Hymdall
Thorim (Ally)

Providing the following counters:
2 Protection
2 Arms (1 backup)
1 Fury
1 Pummel - Protection
2 Whirlwind - Protection & Arms
2 Heroic Leap - Fury & Arms (backup)

As I said in the beginning, there's a lot of flexibility, and I don't really think there's any "right" choice as long as you counter all the threats. The biggest influence is probably who you take as a Combat Ally. For example, if you favor Finna, you're almost required to use Svergan and Dvalen or Ymiron, otherwise you're unable to cover Protection and Pummel effectively, which in turn influences your choice of other Arms/Fury Champions. The only Champion I actively avoid is Ymirion, as I find his bonus the poorest of the lot.

I'm working on making a (hopefully easier to read) version for my guides, so feel free to critique.

Well kudos for this

[Deleted]

I think Royal Bloodline is a pretty bad trait. Two shieldmaidens give 60% success chance, shieldmaiden + aspirant = 45% success, so it only provides a bit more flexibility when choosing missions.

[Archimtiros]

I think Royal Bloodline is a pretty bad trait. Two shieldmaidens give 60% success chance, shieldmaiden + aspirant = 45% success, so it only provides a bit more flexibility when choosing missions.

Well the key is that you may not always want to use both Shieldmaidens on a single missions, so as you deduced, the nice thing about Royal Bloodline is that it allows a bit more flexibility depending on what you need.

When compared to the other bonuses though, I think it easily comes out on top.

• Thorim's bonus is nice in the early game, but once you get into 110/ilvl missions, it's pretty hard to counter everything without more than one Champion. This is ok for me, as I use him primarily as a Combat Ally, and only as a backup for missions, but as a mainline Champion, it's not overly useful.
• Hodir suffers the same problem as Finna, in that it requires a specific threat to gain its bonus.
• Dvalen is even more niche, since it only works on 1 health troops (really should have just been damaged troops), making it hard to plan around, and harder to count on. It also conflicts with Ragnvalds trait, wherein you'll be wanting to keep troops on low health, instead of quickly replacing them to better compliment Commanding Shout.
• Ymiron, is in my opinion the worst Champion period. He's a bit better now that he brings Pummel rather than a fourth Whirlwind, but his trait is just plain bad. If it were at all time consuming or resource intensive to train basic troops, he might be better, but it still suffers a fatal flaw in that it does nothing to help you succeed on a mission.

So again, my pick goes for Svergan. He's also an extra Protection spec, in case you decide to assign Finna as a combat ally for any reason (which wouldn't be out of the question, as its easily the fastest way to level applicable Champions).

[Deleted]

True, but it gets nullified by a little patience. For the main story missions, waiting an extra 30 mins to recruit a warband means little when the mission itself takes 2+ days. The resource cost is also meaningless. The main issue are slots. Finna, Thorim, Hodir and Hymdall are basically a conditional extra troop slot (they provide the same chance as a set of Aspirants). Ymiron is just garbage. That leaves Ragnvald, Dvalen and Svergan for the last slot (or possibly 2 until you grab Hodir).

Ragnvald seems good if you prepare him for that one mission that pops once in a blue moon.

For me Dvalen is a bro. He brings a lot of damage for big elites when I go prot and helps when you get a cold streak of no CS resets on regular mobs.

[Ellianar]

No it doesn't, you can't recruit troops while other are on missions or "alive" so if you send your 2 shieldmaidens on the same mission you can't just go and recruit more, you have to wait for that mission to finish.

Basically with svergan you get 60% with 1 maiden 1 valarjar, so the same as 2 maidens, and you still get 1 maiden 2 valarjar for other missions, a flat 15% mission chance bonus with conditions YOU fulfill. I guess you need both types for it to trigger tho so it's situational depending on the debuff you can't counter with him alone.

[Archimtiros]

True, but it gets nullified by a little patience. For the main story missions, waiting an extra 30 mins to recruit a warband means little when the mission itself takes 2+ days. The resource cost is also meaningless.

Not sure what you're referring to, you seem to be talking about Ymirions buff, which I specifically said which is terrible, so you seem to be agreeing with me. Not sure what that has to do with Svergan's Royal Bloodline.

- - - Updated - - -

Basically with svergan you get 60% with 1 maiden 1 valarjar, so the same as 2 maidens, and you still get 1 maiden 2 valarjar for other missions, a flat 15% mission chance bonus with conditions YOU fulfill. I guess you need both types for it to trigger tho so it's situational depending on the debuff you can't counter with him alone.

This. It's situational, sure, but it's still just plain better and more accessible than the others.

[orgonutil]

i really love to go around with that dwarft, his dps alone is very good and that stun is awesome. Anyway, champion equipment that have a bonus like "receive gold / resources when completing world quests with a follower" works only whith him or works with the another ones that are sumonable or proc?

[Archimtiros]

i really love to go around with that dwarft, his dps alone is very good and that stun is awesome. Anyway, champion equipment that have a bonus like "receive gold / resources when completing world quests with a follower" works only whith him or works with the another ones that are sumonable or proc?

As the item descriptions read, they work on any Champion assigned as a Combat Ally.

[Deleted]

any way to have activate thorim while in say suramar, when you have the disguise ability?

nvm i see it works when you are actually disguised. bit annoying to use in combat then tho.

[Archimtiros]

any way to have activate thorim while in say suramar, when you have the disguise ability?

nvm i see it works when you are actually disguised. bit annoying to use in combat then tho.

Little known fact that you can drag special action buttons to your hotbar, which will remove them from the center of the screen, and that they are actually separate buttons. Thorim (and other allies) actually use a special command called "Combat Ally", while the Suramar City disguise and other special action buttons are different entirely.

In other words, you can drag Thorim(or any other combat ally)'s special action button to a spot on your action bars where it will work like a normal spell, and then have the Suramar City disguise or Capture Withered action buttons appear independently. You could also drag those to your action bar as well if you wanted to.

[Deleted]

Thorim - 2m CD (it says 3m, it's actually 2), short AoE stun (3s?). 3m 25% AP buff (in other words, it can be kept up 100% of the time).

The ability tooltip shows a 2 minute cooldown when you have it in a button, and it's actually a 5 minute buff. Thorim also stays as your guardian for a while just like Finna.

I don't really like Finna because she often procs when you don't want her to, and her cooldown prohibits her from appearing when you do (she also procs on and chases non-hostile targets such as neutral mobs and PvP zone/server players not actively engaged in combat).

My Finna never went after any non-hostiles (I use Thorim now), and for what it's worth, Thorim acts just like Finna does, with the exception that Finna procs, whereas you can control when to bring Thorim out. You can sort of control Finna as well; aggro two mobs and she typically pops out, with an internal cooldown. But yeah, they're two peas in a pod.

[Archimtiros]

The ability tooltip shows a 2 minute cooldown when you have it in a button, and it's actually a 5 minute buff. Thorim also stays as your guardian for a while just like Finna.

I noted this elsewhere in the post.

My Finna never went after any non-hostiles (I use Thorim now), and for what it's worth, Thorim acts just like Finna does, with the exception that Finna procs, whereas you can control when to bring Thorim out. You can sort of control Finna as well; aggro two mobs and she typically pops out, with an internal cooldown. But yeah, they're two peas in a pod.

She did all the time for me, and especially does if you're just riding by and aggro something (ie: mounted up running past mobs), which can waste her CD. It may not be an issue for most users, but I prefer to the greater control with Thorim. For example, I wouldn't want her to proc when I am pulling a group of mobs I intend to burst down with OF, while I may want her to proc on another pull instead.

[Deleted]

I noted this elsewhere in the post.

Yes, you did note that it's actually a 2 minute cooldown, but your post still says it's a 3 minute buff, when it's in fact a 5 minute one. I also just wanted to add that Thorim acts as a temporary guardian the same way as Finna does, which you also didn't mention.

[Archimtiros]

Yes, you did note that it's actually a 2 minute cooldown, but your post still says it's a 3 minute buff, when it's in fact a 5 minute one. I also just wanted to add that Thorim acts as a temporary guardian the same way as Finna does, which you also didn't mention.

Meh, 3m/5m, the point was that it lasts longer than the cooldown, and thus can be kept up full time. Both their damage is trivial, so really shouldn't be a deciding factor.

[snikch]

I went with these recommendations from Reddit and they work well. I like having the dwarf as a constant companion.

imgur.com/a/kkDe8

Sorry I can't imbed the image, I just registered.

[Deleted]

could someone tell me where i get hodir? i'm 110 and dont get a quest for him

Edit: must finish class hall campaign