ESO Companion Leveling Guide
This ESO Companion Leveling Guide will show you the best and fastest way to level up your Companions! Companion Leveling in The Elder Scrolls Online is very similar to leveling your characters! There is one major difference though! Companions can only level up from experience earned from combat kills! This makes grinding enemies necessary to level up your Companion to the maximum level, which is twenty(20)! To learn more about Companions in ESO, you can read my Companions System Guide! If you are looking for a Build for your favorite Companion, please take a look at my Companions Builds Guides!
Table of Contents
- Preparation
- How to Level up Companion fast
- Other Ways to Level up Companion
- Companion Skills Level Up
Preparation – Companion Leveling Guide
Companions only earn a fraction of the experience characters earn from every kill! Because of this, it might take a while to reach the maximum level! However there are a few ways you can boost the EXP your Companions earn through combat.
Training Gear
Before you start killing enemies for EXP gains, make sure that your character is wearing a full set of Training Gear! Training Gear boosts the EXP you earn from every kill by a certain percentage. The better the quality of the gear, the better the EXP Boost you can earn. A white(normal) piece of gear will offer a 7% boost to EXP, while a Gold(Legendary) piece of gear will offer an 11%! Gold Weapons on the other hand can offer a 9% boost to EXP! So having a full set of Gold Training Armor(seven pieces) and a Gold Weapon will offer you an 86% Boost to EXP!

Improving your gear up to Epic(purple) quality is usually enough though. The cost is significantly lower and the boost to EXP is great as well. 10% from each Armor piece and 8% from weapons, so in total a 78% Boost to EXP! If you use the Heartland Conqueror Crafted Set you can also get an additional 9% EXP Boost from your Weapon! This raises your EXP Boost to 87%! You can craft the gear yourself or buy it from other players.
EXP Drinks & Scrolls
Another way to boost the EXP you earn is by using appropriate EXP Drinks and Scrolls! Drinks like Psijic Ambrosia and experience Scrolls offer a boost of 50%-100%-150%, depending on the item you use.


You can craft the Drinks yourself or buy them from other players. You can get the Scrolls as a Daily Login reward or buy them from the Crown Store. The Drinks and Scrolls do not stack with each other. They do stack though with 100% EXP Bonuses from Events when they are live! If you combine all these methods to boost your EXP, then you can get an EXP Bonus of up to 345% with gold gear! Other EXP Bonuses include:
- 10% from ESO Plus subscription and Ring of Mara(Wedding)
- 10% from grouping with another player
- 15% Monster Kill experience from Mora’s Whispers Mythic Item(based off how many books of Shalidor’s Library you have collected)
So in total you can get a 390% EXP Boost and help your Companion level up faster.
How to Level up Companion fast in ESO – Companion Leveling Guide
Since Companions only earn EXP from Combat kills, the best and fastest way to level them up is by grinding enemies! The more enemies you can kill fast, the faster your Companion will level up. Areas with several groups of enemies close to each other are the best for this method. These Grind Spots will be contested however, since other players will want to level up there as well. Some of the best XP Grind Spots include:
1. The Vile Manse Public Dungeon in Reaper’s March zone. Consists of two floors and offers a circular route you can follow in each floor. In order to enter the Dungeon you have to accept a short quest in the Villa above first.


2. Spellscar in Craglorn. North of Belkarth and offers a large area with many groups of enemies around. Great place to grind XP but also very popular.

3. Verrant Morass in Greenshade zone. North of Marbruk with several groups of Feral Bosmers to kill around. Easy to kill and fast to respawn.

4. Dragonstar Arena in Craglorn zone. Dragonstar Arena is a 4-man arena that you can complete Solo or Duo with your Companion(s). A nice way to farm the Master Weapons that drop in the arena while leveling up your Companion!
5. Infinite Archive in Apocrypha zone! The Infinite Archive is a Duo rogue-like Arena that you can also complete with your Companion! Repeating the First Arc of the Infinite Archive is a great way to level up your Companion while collecting Archival Fortunes, the Archive’s currency.

6. Normal Blackrose Prison Arena in Murkmire Zone. Theย Blackrose Prison Arenaย is the Best XP Grind and Power Level Spot in ESO! One of the few group Arenas in the game and the place to farm theย special ability altering Blackrose Prison Weapons! It is also one of the best ways toย level up your Companion! You can find the Arena in the Murkmireย zone, so theย Murkmire DLCย is necessary to access it! When insideย complete the first four rounds of the first arena, then reset it. Do not fight the final Boss of the First Arena! Rinse and repeat until you are satisfied with your XP grind gains.

These are only a few of the best places you can visit to grind EXP. For a full list of the best places to level up your Companion, you can take a look at my ESO Best Grind XP Spots!
Other ways to level up Companion in ESO
Clearing Dolmens and in general World Events around Tamriel, is an alternative but slower way to level up your Companion. This is because Companions only earn experience from kills and will not benefit from the EXP bonus when clearing the Dolmen. Another more relaxed approach to Companion Leveling is to roam around along with them, exploring new zones and killing enemies that you find. Slower but more relaxing!
Companion Skills Level Up – Companion Leveling Guide
Companions also have a few skill lines that you can level up! All of them except Guild skill lines, level up from experience earned from killing enemies! To level up their Guild lines, you will have to complete their appropriate Daily Quests!
Guild Skills Level Up – Companion Leveling Guide
Companion Guild lines level up only by doing Guild Daily Quests. There are ten levels of each Guild and every Daily Quest advances their rank by one level. You can accept the Quests from Bolgrul for the Undaunted, Alvur Baren for the Mages Guild and Cardea Gallus for the Fighters Guild. You can find all three in the Alliances’ Capitals:
- Elden Root-Grahtwood
- Mournhold-Deshaan
- Wayrest-Stormhaven
Alternatively you can use the Companion Guild Commendation consumables from the Impresario to advance the Guild Rank of your Companion! This consumable costs three(3) Event Tickets and made its debut with the Zeal of Zenithar Event! It is available for all three Companion Guilds, Undaunted, Fighters and Mages Guild and when you use it, it advances their rank to the next level! The Companion Guild Commendation consumables will be available every time an Event is live!
FAQ – Companion Leveling Guide
You can find Ember near the Tor Draioch point of interest, North of Gonfalon Bay, the Capital of the High Isle zone. In order to unlock her as a companion complete her Quest “Tower of Trouble“.
You can find Isobel near the Castle Navire point of interest, West of Gonfalon Bay, the Capital of the High Isle zone. In order to unlock her as a companion complete her Quest “Tournament of the Heart“.
You can find Bastian in the Deepscorn Hollow objective along the southwest coast of Blackwood. In order to unlock him as a companion complete his Quest “Competition and Contracts“.
Mirri is found in the Doomvault Vulpinaz objective in northern Blackwood. In order to unlock her as a companion complete her Quest “Shattered and Scattered“.
You can find Azandar right outside the Cipher’s Midden village in the Apocrypha zone. In order to unlock him as a companion complete his Quest “The Fateweaver Key“.
You can find Sharp right outside the Necrom Capital of the Telvanni Peninsula zone. In order to unlock him as a companion complete his Quest “The Double Edge“. To learn more about ESO Companions you can read this ESO Companions System Guide.
You canย unlock Tanlorin Companion as a Crown Purchaseย in ESO orย free with an ESO Plus Subscription. In order to unlock them as a companion complete their Quest โThe Garland Ringโ.
You canย unlock Zerith-Var Companion as a Crown Purchaseย in ESO orย free with an ESO Plus Subscription. In order to unlock him as a companion complete his Quest โMoonlit Shadowโ.
The Best Way to Level Up your Companions in ESO is by grinding XP at specific locations! For the best Grind Locations in ESO you can read this ESO Best XP Grinds Spots Guide!
Gear for Companions drops from enemies in ESO but is rarer than player Armor Sets and its maximum quality is Epic(Gold gear is available as Event reward!). Bosses have a better chance to drop equipment for your companions but you can also buy it from specific merchants.
The Best Companion in ESO depends on the role you wish to fulfill with them! Overall, Isobel is the strongest Companion at the moment. To learn more about the Best Companion for every role, you can read this ESO Best Companion Guide!

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