Every where I search I get a different 'correct' answer. oh dear

Does anyone know for certain if followers level up with you, or are they fixed to the level you found them? (i am aware of the level cap)

Correct answers please, no made up bs or assumptions

I got Sven at level one and he never gets stronger.

I got Lydia at level 10 and at level 30 I still bring her along with me. Let's just say with a 20 level difference fighting some bosses at level 30 she would basically be ONE SHOT which is clearly not the case.

So based on her combat survival skills at level 30 and the fact she don't go down easy when I picked her up way back at level 10, I say npc's do level with the player but are not at a 1:1 scale.

I first told Faendal to follow me, on lvl 2. I just finished the main quest and he doesn't got killed so much.

Give him/her better weapons and armor... Thats all I can think off

Yeah when i did use them my first play through I noticed no change so I stopped using them then made a new character to try a different path and for that second one I plan to wait till after lvl 30 before gathering followers to see if they match up better.

Their stats remain at the same values they were when you first encountered them. I've checked it via console (playing on PC).

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim_talk:Followers#Do_followers_level_with_you.3F are the facts. They don't level with you. They stay at your level the first time you meet them. This may be by design (so you constantly trade in for new followers) or a bug. Know one knows yet. If you are on PC there is a simple fix. If you are on console then you are out of luck.

i found this but im not entirely convinced

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim_talk:Followers#Do_followers_level_with_you.3F

again, in this article/link there are varying different opinions as to follower levelling... confused

Its because the followers are leveling with you but their stats are not. You can verify this by checking it yourself with the console. This is why people argue about it. It's very simply to test for through.

Are you sure?

As I have been 'holding' out on discovering followers so I can recruit them when I am on a HIGH level. If you are 100% certain then I will make another character and play 'normally' instead of avoiding areas that have followers.

I'm on Xbox so don't have console to check

If they level with you does that mean they are getting stronger as well, even though their stats do not change?

This is a example. You meet Lydia at level 4. Lydia is now level 4. Her stamina is 120, health 120, magic 100. You level up to 5. Lydia levels up to 5. Lydia's stamina is still 120, health 120, magic 100. So on and so forth. Farkas is a great example of this problem. If you do the companions guild quest right after you meet them they make great companions. Farkas will tank for you no problem. If you meet them early and hold of the quest line until you have leveled 10 more than when you first met them, they will be one shot by the silver hand.

So the stats are not leveling but the perks and actual level are. That is whats so confusing about this.

They must have heck of a damage mitigation cause Lydia and that archer Faendal in first town you can get at level 2 ish sure seems to survive beatings at level 20 and above. In all cases they should be one shot with "stats" that low.

I have also checked with the console that their stats remain the same after I went from level 6 to 17. I tested it on Lydia but I'm pretty sure the other followers are the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xrGfL2Ne78 is a simple fix for pc users.

I have found a link on UESPWiki which state the contrary to the above statements. It says that followers DO level up! (it's on the middle of the page titled 'Follower Stats')

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Followers

This is toooooo confusing... no one has a definite answer!

Really need confirmation on this!

I agree that followers do level with you. I got Lydia at level 8, I now take her sometimes at level 46 and she still holds her own. If she were still a level 6 everything would 1 shot her. Visable stats are not always right. The quest items stuck in my inventory say they have a weight, when they really don't.

Again nothing confirmed but my expeirence only

It seems like all the people saying that they level are citing their characters not dying as proof, all the people saying they don't are citing numbers checked via console. I've checked the numbers, and I've also noticed that while my low level acquired followers do not die at higher levels, they do end up taking a knee a lot more often.

I made a thread on this a few days ago and i found out that it seems no one knows for sure.
Some people claim, no they don't. Link articles and such. And claim their old character that they met at lvl 10 is now getting one shotted by everything at lvl 50.

Others claim they do level up. Pointing out other articles saying they do. And claim their old character that they met at lvl 10 is still strong. And upon opening a console command to check their companions level, they are usually around 5 levels behind at lv 50.

In conclusion i didn't really get anything out of my thread, other than it seems to apply for some, and not for others. As well as there is numerous topics supporting both sides of this. I don't know which is correct, or which will work for you.

Just thought i'd share what i found on my thread that had this same topic.

Actually, thank you very much for your input

I too am realising now that no one truly knows for certain esp. with all the contradicting 'sources' out there.

I only wish Bethesda actually read these forums and could answer for us, as this would assist many players out there (you and I included) in our enjoyment and playstyle of this game, shame really