... is how often my companion dies! I'm playing a pure Mage, and the splash damage from my spells can kill my companions if they are touched by it at all. The game is awesome, but this aspect is SUPER frustrating - especially considering I'm a huge fan of followers in games. Basically I have to choose between not having a follower, not using any of my sweet spells (fireball), and reloading constantly whenever I happen to brush Lydia with a spell. Fireball seems to be especially bad because the 'on fire' damage will kill her also and that lasts a long time.

I can totally understand this damage taking companions out of the fight, but it svcks that it kills them permanently. I have to reload WAY more often because of accidentally killing my companion than because of dying.

Anyone else having this problem?

hmm if u take away your companions sword and give him/her a bow instead wont he stay ranged, and so give you more room to cast magic maybe? dunno i dont use magic myself. i gave lydia both a bow and a sword+shield and she sorta copy's my fighting style mostly. when i shoot with the bow she does aswel

This.

I think it's great that companions can die permanently. Just be more careful in deciding what kind of companion you want.

You could also enchant her gear with fire resists and blast away, your a mage, you should have some enchanting skill right?

I tried loading her up with fire resistant gear, and it doesn't seem to help after she does the kneeling down thing. ANY touch seems to take her out at that point. I'll try loading her up with a bow instead and see if that helps.

This is why I use conjured companions; they are disposable. So if you like playing with companions, conjure or reanimate beings and hire an archer.

If you take away any melee weapons they'll still use their default weapons (not visible in inventory). You can never be sure they'll stay ranged, according to my experience. My companions also take the occasional friendly arrow in the back of the head *sigh*, it bothers me aswell. What happened to the dialogue options where you could define their tactics?

And where do i hire these archers, Treborius??

I meant you could give your companion a bow, so he'd become an archer. But I admit, I don't have much experience with companions, so I didn't even now about the "invisible" default weapon.

You should look out for companion mods in future, like the ones for New Vegas.

this is exactly the reason why i haven't bothered with companions... well, other than trixie my flame atronach and mr. dead, my reanimated corpse

I play a sneak character and companions have a nasty habit of svcking at being sneaky. So i dont use them at all.

This is why I'm not bothering with companions. They do nothing but get in the way and when I'm using my flame thrower I can't control who exactly I'm hitting.

I haven't used a companion yet, I'm a lone wolf!

I'm playing a pretty much pure mage and I take another mage with me. I won't spoil who, but they use chain lightning and together we work some face even on master difficulty.

Definitly need this...also am I just unlucky or is finding an item with reist cold rare? I really need that enchant

a simple yeah or no would do if you don't mind?

Take the elf archer from Riverwood.

This is pretty much why I only use flame attronachs and fire spells 90% of the time... it is way too hard to predict where you can safely dump a spell on an enemy and not hit your companion...

Basically fire seems to have the best synergy.

The damage output can get so ridiculously high when someone gets scorched by Torchie the Attronach (who doesn't mind the fire), that a fully upgraded fireball to the face usually sends them flying 20 feet... but even if the live through that, they poop their pants and run away messing up the people behind them from advancing on me.

yeah it's the same with shouts... whenever I use the storm call it blasts away on my companions, enemies and everything else that gets nearby, even friendly NPC's ...

No.

I killed Uthegard the Unbroken this way.... I switched to Onmund from the university, and before he glitched to hell and back, it worked pretty well- I gave him a staff and we melted face together, whether I was double dealing destro, using sword and destro, or a sword and shield.


I've also used the Dunmer woman you can hire. She takes fire damage better and hasn't died yet.

According to Prima's Strategy Guide, sneaky characters should stay away from using followers too much. Using them interferes with your 'sneakiness'.

Silly question but how do you enchant their gear? I've been able to trade stuff to Lydia and use her as my pack mule since I didn't buy a house yet. But, like, I can't even see her armor or anything that I didn't already give her when I trade her stuff. Or if I give her something, how do I get her to equip it? Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place.

I'm on the PS3 if that matters, not PC, so I can't add any mods.

I use Lydia and I'm a mage using destruction magic. Never killed her. When she falls to the ground (and only then) can she be killed - so I just run away slightly and then resume magic, ensuring she is safe.

I like the fact she can die. It's an immersion thing; if you kill her, she will die. So, be careful you don't.

Companions will ALWAYS be a hindrance.They were in MW,and they will be in TES VII.Only companion that can help you is your friend in Coop mode.Which is non-existent,and probably very hard to implement to a game like this.