My take on improving new player experience
They’d actually planned AI companions when the game was first announced, but decided it would be too many on the map at one time at big events, so they scrapped it. I’m pretty sure it was a decision based on lag.
Imo, they should add a low level fair that features encounters styled like the Queen’s Gauntlet. Each encounter should teach something specific that works up to a “show me what you know” styled boss.
@Vayne with the system they have in place it can easily be fixed and prevent players to come in and create a new instance of it. You could also stop them from following you on major cities to remove the lag.