"Honor to you, my thane." Taking care of Lydia : V - Skyrim

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:08 am

I think she dies for 90% of all Skyrim players. Be more careful with your magic. She can't be killed by anyone else than you

» Tue Jun 05, 2012 3:24 pm

I never use Lydia or any followers unless it's scripted into the quest. The followers just get in your way, and pull unnecessary mobs and then dies.

It may seem nice to have them along to carry stuff for you, but when they die, you still have to carry the stuff, and pick and choose which thing to leave on the ground. It doesn't really make it any better.

I work alone. If I conjure something for a fight, it will disappear, and I doesn't matter of you shoot them in the back and it kills them. You can just summon another.

Yup and yup. Another solo-gamer like me. Followers are usually more trouble than they're worth to players like us.

» Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:16 pm

I'm wondering if you can fix that the same way I got rid of her horrible hunting bow she kept using instead of my better ones I gave her, which is to remove it from her 'outfit' inventory.

Removing her steel armor would really nicely improve her carry ability if thats the issue.

So... how did you DO that? I can see her bow with a showinventory but from there I'm lost. As far as I can see using the console is not for me. From my prior experience, when I started playing with a game's parameters, the game was really over for me. I discovered that with Oblivion... after I'd played through it and all its expansions to the point I knew what was around every corner. (I was addicted to Oblivion... GREAT game!)

» Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:26 pm

Tonight I thought I lost her for keeps. We were on our way to recover a Shield for the Jarl of Markarth and I went over some rocks or a steep area and didn't see her anymore. It happens all the time so I didn't worry about it because she'll always reappear when I enter a door or fast-travel. This time she didn't though and I had to fight alone. I made it through and recovered the shield and intended to go back and reload so she wouldn't be dead because I was sure she must be dead. I fast-traveled to Dragon Bridge one last time to be sure and there she was! I was so happy. :biggrin:

Then....then...I got my first Elder Dragon. Wow, that was a battle but she died a couple of times until I changed my tactics after reloading and then it ended well. What a great night of gaming!

Her health is so low, it takes some work to keep her alive but she keeps me alive too so it's fun and now I'm stubborn enough to try and take her to my endgame. She does the best when I give her great staves to fight with.

:tes:

I had a similar incident with my Lydia, when she didn't appear after I fast-travelled. Had to bounce around a bit. Decided that if one more bounce didn't bring her back I was reloading, but the last one did it, so I got to keep my loot. LOL It surprised me the first time she used a staff, I'd just given it to her to carry, not knowing she could use it. Made me regret all the varied Lydia-useful summoning-type staves I'd sold up to that point. (I don't use them, since I play with Destruction in one hand and Heal in the other, if I'm not using my greatsword.)

» Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:57 pm

Well I tried to keep her with me but it didn't last very long. I went to a dungeon outside of Whiterun and a battle commenced and she jumps in front of me to help of course and I strike her. Then she was pissed. I yeilded and she still kept coming so I smashed her. Sorry I tried to make peace.

» Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:35 pm

I really like having a companion, for one I like having a buddy when I'm out traveling the woods. To a point I feel like I got some back up when I'm out their traveling with some one knowing they got my back. Lydia is basically the first companion I got and like others have said shes been through so much with you no point in cutting her loose when you don't have to. Some people have mentioned of telling her to wait when there are traps involved. Typically if I can sneak by a pressure plate so can she and I find it to not really be a problem for me. She does really well during sneaking situations and usually follows my path to the T with out any trouble. I did have one situation in a dungeon where we were both in a sealth mode and we were behind some bad guys and all of the sudden shes says this random sentence and sure if enough they all turn around going "What was that?" LOL sshhh lydia we're trying to sneak remember?

I've only had her die on me a few times and I know some of those deaths were accidentally my fault. It's pretty rare for her to lose me while traveling up a mountain for example. I can climb up mountains like it's nothing and but then shes tends to like to take the easy breezy scenic route and calls it good. It may take her a extra 5 minutes to finally reach me but he get's to me eventually. Some times it takes her forever to reach me and once I get through a door and it loads up the level, she there and ready for battle right behind me.

The only real problem I got with the companion is I wish she would carry more of my burdens. There's lots of times where I'm maxed out on carrying some thing and so is she. It's frustrating because some times I don't feel like going to a store and selling it right then and there. Then there's always that moment where your in the middle of a dungeon and you find a shiny new sword only to find out you can't run any where and then on top of it you can't pawn it off to lydia because she's maxed out. So then you faced with either leaving your new item you just found to be worth like 1,200 gold or some thing OR part with that sword you've been using for the past 35 hours. I want to keep my sword but I want to take this item because I can get a ton of good at the shop. lol

What I do for handling all that loot is find a container close to the mouth of the dungeon and drop everything down to essentials into it. Periodically I carry another load back. If the dungeon's too huge, I find containers along the way and drop stuff into them. After I've cleared the dungeon, I go back to each container, take its loot and move it to the dungeon-mouth container until all the loot is at the front of the dungeon. Then I pick and choose the best loot to fast-travel to my house, sell it if merchants are open, drop it at my house if they're not, and fast-travel back and forth until I have all the loot at my house or sold. It may take a little bit of extra time, but it's a great way to build gold quick to buy that special item or that great house you just can't live without.

» Tue Jun 05, 2012 5:18 pm

It's weird how so many players actually keep Lydia. Its almost like she is synonymous with the word follower. There are so many followers to pick and choose from, so why do people keep the first one they come across?

Personally I rarely use followers so I don't have much advice to give, but Erandur was a cool character and wasn't constantly kneeling when I used him (unlike the warrior followers). Maybe try a mage follower?

I think you're right, its not necessarily Lydia, its your first follower that people tend to keep with them. I picked up Faendal first, early in the game, and will probably finish the game with him. (I got him around level 5ish, and he was a welcome help because before I got him, I had to keep running away from the 3 mercenaries who kept killing me on sight). I also like how helpful and unassuming he is. While one companion always asked, "What do you want to take?" when I wanted to trade items, Faendal always offers to carry my stuff. "What do you want me to carry?"

I'm level 34 now, and he's still by my side. He tends to stay behind me and use his bow a lot, switching over to 2 handed longswords when enemies close on him. Unless its a boss he's fighting, I let him handle them himself and concentrate on the other enemies. I've only had to reload the game twice because he was killed - by a boss wraith and by a bandit chief.

» Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:22 am

I had a similar incident with my Lydia, when she didn't appear after I fast-travelled. Had to bounce around a bit. Decided that if one more bounce didn't bring her back I was reloading, but the last one did it, so I got to keep my loot. LOL It surprised me the first time she used a staff, I'd just given it to her to carry, not knowing she could use it. Made me regret all the varied Lydia-useful summoning-type staves I'd sold up to that point. (I don't use them, since I play with Destruction in one hand and Heal in the other, if I'm not using my greatsword.)

What gets me is when she'll use the Summon Frost Atronach staff on a mudcrab. I'm all, "Lydia, it takes a lot of work to charge that thing!"

» Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:45 pm

What gets me is when she'll use the Summon Frost Atronach staff on a mudcrab. I'm all, "Lydia, it takes a lot of work to charge that thing!" :biggrin:

LOL Yup! I took the Fire Atronach staff away from her, she used it for anything and everything, including skeevers.

» Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:27 pm

Personally, I refuse to reload if a companion dies. It is tempting, but their deaths are usually at dramatic points (Lydia bought it while fighting the master vampire outside of Morthal) Also, give your companion weapons that compliment your playstyle. The last thing an archer needs is another archer (except Faendal as a free trainer) though two mages can do a lot of damage together, especially if you're a spellblade being backed up by a summoner.