First off, sorry if there is a similar post, I couldn't find it if there is one.


I have Lydia following me, and I have given her an Orcish War Axe (Exquisite) with 31 damage and 10 points frost damage. Now, she will equip. any greatsword or warhammer I give her to carry as loot. The problem is that these weapons have like half the damage as the war axe I want her to use.

Does she prefer two-handed weapons? I assumed not, since she had a shield to begin with.



Cheeers.

I think she does have preferences but im not sure what they are based on, my lydia loves using this steel waraxe I gave her ages ago and even if I give her an ebony battleaxe with 3x the damage she insists on using the steel one, she wont even bother with 1hers for me takes out a bow if her precious axe is missing

Her preferences actually seem to change. For each player they are a little different, and it may have to do with how she levels here skills in the game you've been playing. Some have noticed she takes 2 handed weapons over better 1 handed, and that's been my observation as well.

Others have pointed out that she prefers base damage to enchantments, particularly with armor.

It's hard to know what she prefers. Unfortunately, you can't just tell her to "equip this one." I think that's a flaw on Bethesda's part, one that they might patch but probably won't. I'm sure mods will come out all over the place on this, which is why I always buy TES on the PC.

I am getting the exact same vibe from her as well. Thanks

My Lydia won't wear any armor I give her. She just continues to wear Clothes with 1 armor

Mine likes to pull out two one handed staves and blast away. She gets some pretty good damage out of them too.

Lydia svcks, she's dead with an arrow in the back of her head outside my house, she pissed me off. I don't really bother with companions, but if I do, DB initiate all the way.

Are you on the PC?
If so then you can "kill" and loot then "resurrect" her.

Edit:
OH you have to use a particular command when resurrecting her I think to make her have only what she has on her person.
Damn, I've forgotten. Sorry.

I'm having the same problem with Mjoll the Lioness. I can deck her out in exquisite orcish armor but she would rather use a steel battleaxe over grimsever which doesn't make sense considering the fact that she always tells me the story of how a cutpurse wet his armor when she pulled out grimsever.

Hi guys, I am 90% sure companions will equip enchanted weapons/gear over any non-enchanted gear of similar quality

Im thinking that if you give them, say a steel mace with 10 frost damage enchant, totaling 30 damage, they will use that over an orcish mace with 28 damage.

Hope this helps

My Lydia favours the Orcish Battleaxe of Reaping, wears Steel Plate Armour of Destruction. Without any added gear she wears her armour that she starts with, I haven't seen her wear clothes, unless I add clothes with a hood. She uses a good Elven bow if the enemy is out of range, like a flying dragon.

I have noticed the opposite. I gave Lydia two pieces of armor with the exact same armor rating, but one had a +3 HP enchantment. Small enchantment, but it was there. She equipped the other set. I think it's because the enchanted armor was light armor, and she prefers heavy.


So she does seem to do a little bit of basic math, but she also just seems to like some things over others.

This problem is even more pronounced when it comes to range weapons.

There is no separate skill so she should use the best bow.

Instead of using the 100 dmg Ancient Nord Bow, she would use her DEFAULT (not even listed in inventory) longbow.

It is very puzzling, since the Lydia in my previous play-through did not have this problem.

It has to be stronger that her current weapon. The only armor she'll wear for me so far is dwarven. Yeah, shes really picky

So basically the one thing Bethesda programmed perfectly in Skyrim is women.

The strategy guide says she has the following skills - Heavy Armor, One-hand, Block and Archery. For the longest time I thought she was skilled in two-handers because that was all she used. Even now that I gave her a really nice sword and shield, she seems to use her bow more times than not.

For me, the most frustrating thing is that she won't equip any gauntlets that I give her.

lol'd