I'm still using my first follower Faendal, even in later stages because he's the only one that would attack from afar using his bow. Close combat isn't his strategy and that is a blessing when playing this game. I read a lot about followers rush in to battle or get in the way from players attack and end up an epic death. Is there any logic in me of keep using this dude? have you got better suggestions I'm all ears.

Please don't do the make it hard to read trick. It's just fine stock.

Never had a problem with friendly fire or followers getting killed, they are all protected and I make sure not to hit them. My complaint is that when I try to sneak they just rush in and give me away. Even when I tell them to wait in another room or at the start of a dungeon they coming running into combat, It's pretty [censored] annoying when you're trying to be stealthy.

Kharjo. Knows when to use a bow, drops into sneak when you do, starts smashing skulls up close. Just don't expect him to sneak that well in all that plate armour.

I only use summons as followers if I'm not using a stealth based character and if I am using stealth types then I don't use any because they tend to give me away... If you want him to level up just dismiss him and rehire him and it should work... You also might try picking up a different follower wait a couple days dismiss them and then go back and get the one you want back...

There's also the option to get a different ranged follower...
My suggestions for these would be:
Aela the Huntress (if you've completed the Companions quests)
Aranea (if you've completed The Black Star) she's actually a mage with Destruction, Restoration, Conjuration and Alteration
Marcurio (also a mage with same set of skills as Aranea plus Sneak)
Annekke Crag-Jumper (another archer like Faendal)

In the end it's all personal choice but to level him up you will still have to dismiss him and I'd suggest waiting a day or so in game for him to get his level fixed...

never had much problem.
I change them every now and them to always have a level scaled one.

Some are worse than others. Faendal stays out of the way and immediately equipped the Elven armor we scavenged from a Thalmor Justicar patrol we killed. Interstingly for an archer, he seems to prefer the Elven battleaxe I was having him carry.

Uthgerd stays out of the way and is probably my favorite follower.

I pretty much can't use ranged attacks with Iona around as she is constantly running down range and getting in my line of fire. Deathwish?

one of the reasons my characters never but never take a follower with them , and i usually pretty frustrated the few dungons you are forced to join up with some npc , one of two major flaws this game has in my opinion NPC follower AI

I have no problems at all with my follower, Illia the witch. That is probably because she prefers distance attack spells as long as she has enough magicka, then she will use distance attacks with Staffs. Close combat seems to be her least preference what is nice. In some occasions -with lots of enemies- I tell her to stay behind, so that she can do harm safely from the distance while I take out enemies in close combat.

I don't mind friendly fire, but I can see it becoming annoying for casters using a low of area of effect spells.

yeah, I hear the 'hey watch it' a lot in battle with my mage and warrior. Both use bows and the former uses ranged magic. I mean, chain lightning that hits 3 things and will easily form a 'U' when cast can sometimes rebound to a follower.

After Sven and Lydia died I resolved not to let a follower die in my service. needless to say, I've had to re-do several battles when they did die. My aim is fine they just jump in the damn way. I do still use them but not currently with my warrior character.

When I summon my dremora, well, he just begins running around kiling things and as a summoning I don't feel bad fireballing/axeing him along with the bad guys.

My followers always get in the way just as i unleash an arrow which then hits them right in the back of the head, Happens so often that the R key on my keyboard has started to wear down due to my constant use of the resurrect command.

Faendal & Lydia always knock my elbow while i'm sneaking as well, does wonders for my aim.

Beat me to it. It's especially bad when you're playing a mage. Unless you want to risk the chance of killing your follower, you simply cannot use those spells. A perk in the Destruction tree would have taken care of this nicely: "Area Spells Harm Only Enemies". It doesn't seem to make much sense that an area Illusion spell like Pacify won't calm your followers, but your area destruction spells can kill them.

As for followers rushing into battle... the only solution to it is to become a a deadly archer. Otherwise, you're pretty much just rushing in.

Someone else mentioned using only summoned entities instead of followers. That's the next best option. To bad you can't summon a utility atronauch that would only serve to carry extra loot.

My followers are such pvssy’s. When ever I’m battling something they always shoot arrows from the distance rather than fight up close with stronger weapons even though I equip them with strong weapons but the dumb thing is you cant replace there bows, they all carry a pathetic hunting bow. If you have a companion/follower with you I think you should be able to fully customize there armor and weapons. My follower has to look as good as I do not like some hobo swinging an axe.

Let's say for a second that they acted the way you want... held back and stayed out of your way. Someone, quite possibly you, would be here complaining that their followers didn't engage often enough and weren't helpful. They've developed a game, and it's fun to play. It's also a lot of fun to complain about the way their game was designed. But it's getting old.

At low levels I used Lydia and she was pretty dumb in combat. Then I found Annekke and Derkeethus and life is better

Indeed. Usually I don't have this problem with Erik the Slayer--we're pretty good at staying out of each other's way. Mostly because he's busy tanking the enemies while I'm skipping around behind them with my spells and a bit of fancy axework. (He's also decently sneaky for a giant Nord...still not the greatest of course, but Leeroy Jenkins he isn't.) Where I have trouble is in the really difficult fights where an epic spell that happens to be AoE would be really useful...but I can't use it, because I'd kill Erik.

I ran into this with the Red Eagle quest. The boss at the end of that is one mean [censored] at level 26--he'd knock Erik out in 2-3 hits and then come charging after my squishy mage. Given that she's a squishy mage, you can guess how well that would end. I found I could cut his health in half with a well placed scroll of fireball...but of course deploying that would instantly kill Erik. I couldn't even Shout in that fight (much) since Shouts have such a wide blast radius and, well, one FUS RO DAH is enough to off a follower if they're down to that last sliver of health.

Finally managed that one with a well-timed scroll of Guardian Circle, a lot of running in circles flailing and spamming firebolts, and cowering behind Erik and casting Healing Hands on him constantly. Not fun times.

Sigh. I understand the logic behind having friendly NPCs also harmed by AoE spells, but a perk that nullifies or at least nerfs that damage would come in really, really handy for us mages who like to use tank followers. I don't blame Erik for running in ahead of me; that's what I hired him for. I blame the programming that allows for friendly fire.

I recall that the radient system will often design quests for you based on your play style....I wonder if it would be possible to do the same for follower behavior. Or at the very least, the ability to tell them to favor melee or ranged or magic, kind of like in FO3/NV.

Same here, If I have a follower along it's because the quest requires it.

I'm a loner, a rebel. Just like Pee Wee Herman.