ESO Companion Levelling comes from experience gained through enemy kills while your companion is summoned. Companions can reach level 20, with new combat skills and skill slots opening as they progress. They don’t earn combat levels merely because you complete story quests or spend time in a zone, and their rapport and guild skill lines are separate systems.
For faster companion levelling, focus on groups of enemies your character can defeat quickly, keep your ally active and use suitable Training gear or applicable XP bonuses on your own character. You can gain extra levels while doing dungeons or daily quests too, but a route full of quick kills is often more efficient than slow boss fights.
How ESO companion levelling XP works
A summoned companion receives a share of eligible experience from defeated enemies. That doesn’t reduce the XP your player earns. Experience from discovering a new location or handing in an ordinary quest does not grant companion combat XP in the same way, so adventures with little fighting are slow for this type of progression.
Companions receive a share of the experience you gain from enemy kills, and higher rapport increases that share. The Training trait on your character’s gear and applicable experience bonuses can improve their levelling speed. Check the companion’s XP bar after a short farming session instead of relying on a fixed time estimate. For faster levelling, keep the companion summoned and fight groups of enemies you can kill without much downtime.
Best ESO companion levelling farming locations
| Activity | Why use it | Important caution |
|---|---|---|
| Spellscar, Craglorn | Dense packs of enemies | Respect other players’ farming routes |
| Vile Manse, Reaper’s March | Public-dungeon enemy circuit | Watch for respawns and companion survival |
| Blackrose Prison, Murkmire | Repeated arena enemies | Needs a character capable of clearing efficiently |
| Other public dungeons | Enemy groups and occasional gear | Pick a route you can actually clear quickly |
| Overland loops | Accessible alongside quests and materials | Travel time can reduce XP per minute |
The best companion levelling location is one your character can run without long pauses. Spellscar is popular because enemies spawn in groups. Vile Manse can be convenient for a compact dungeon circuit. Blackrose Prison is useful only if you can clear the encounters quickly enough to justify its difficulty.
Does Training gear help companion levelling?
Training-trait armour on your player character can increase eligible kill XP and improve your companion’s gains. Relevant XP scrolls, consumables and event boosts may help where their bonuses apply to combat experience. Check the effect rather than assuming every source of bonus XP counts toward companion levelling.
Companions cannot simply equip your ordinary Training equipment. They need companion-specific gear, which has its own traits such as Bolstered, Quickened and Aggressive. Put Training on the player where it makes sense, and outfit the companion with weapons and defensive abilities that keep them alive through the farming loop.
How to level a companion from 1 to 20
Summon the new companion and equip a weapon that matches the role you want. Start fighting small groups to open early abilities and new skill slots. Arrange useful abilities in the Companion Menu so the most important ones can trigger reliably. If your ally is dying frequently, change the setup before attempting harder enemies.
Once the companion survives comfortably, use one of the farming routes above for repeated kills. Check the progress bar after several pulls, then continue when the rate is good. Public dungeons can offer a useful mix of combat XP and occasional companion gear drops, although gear quality and traits are random.
During the later levels, keep the companion active whenever you’re fighting for other reasons. If the game dismisses them because your group fills with players or the activity restricts allies, summon them again as soon as allowed. The companion must be present for further kill-based progression.
How companion weapon and armour skills level
Your companion’s equipped weapon determines which weapon skill line is available and developed through play. Armour skill lines are based on armour weight, and equipping at least three pieces of a weight unlocks that line. Plan ahead if you want a restoration-staff healer or a shield-based tank rather than relying on the default starting equipment.
Changing weapons after a long grind means you may still need to progress a new weapon line. For efficient companion levelling, use the type of gear you’ll want for the final build wherever possible, and level additional equipment lines later if you want a more flexible ally.
How Fighters Guild, Mages Guild and Undaunted work
These companion guild skill lines don’t rank up just by killing enemies. Complete the relevant guild daily quest with the appropriate companion summoned to advance them. This is an important exception to ordinary combat levelling: even thousands of enemy kills won’t substitute for the required daily hand-ins.
If you’re also raising rapport, check whether your ally approves of the guild daily. One activity can sometimes help guild skills and the relationship, even though those systems calculate progress separately from kill-based XP.
Why ESO companion levelling may be stuck
Check that your ally is genuinely summoned, that you’re killing enemies and that your companion hasn’t already reached level 20. If you’re watching the rapport bar, it won’t rise from ordinary kills. In content that forbids companions, or when a full player group automatically dismisses the ally, the progression you expect may not happen.
For the locations of all eight companions, see our ESO companion locations guide. Once recruited, the same companion levelling principles apply whether they originally came from Blackwood, High Isle, Necrom or the Crown Store.
Related ESO Companion Levelling Guides
Official source: ESO Companion System overview.
