Hmm, well... on my Master conjurer I would normally have 2 conjured creatures (either thrall's or whatever 2 I felt like throwing in there at the time), a animal (troll or dog) and a companion (normally serana). Since I had low HP and was also a Master of destruction magic I didn't want things to get in close to me (especially since I had it set to the highest difficulty setting), so letting my little army charge in was perfectly fine with me and suited my playing style.

Of course it also meant that not much was a real challenge since they would kill most everything and all I had to do was mostly throw a few healing spells around now and then. But I can say that if I didn't have them with me that I would have gotten slaughtered soooooo easily since my most powerful destruction spell felt pretty dang weak on most decent baddies.

But I have started a new character, a thief type, and I have went solo since day one. My goal isn't go kill things, but to sneak past as much as possible to get the job done, so a companion really isn't in the cards.

Well there was this one game-through where I would always have Kharjo. Felt like he and my Khajiit female was married.

This.

Only time on my current character did I take a follower was Lydia. And it was during the Civil War and I was defending Whiterun.

Turns out she didn't map out of the city with me and left me defending the front gate alone. When it was all done I thought she was dead since I couldn't find her but when I went back into the city she runs up to me and acts like nothing was wrong.

coward.

I work better alone anyway.

Lydia isn't the only follower. I haven't used her since my first game. Jenassa is a much better one you can pick up right away in Whiterun.

always followers, i mean ya they're useless, but i sort have like having someone around to wear and use whatever type of armor and weapons i don't use and carry all my crap back to town. Plus with one handed, two handed, and archery mastered i have little incentive to fight for experience, in the beginning of the game i don't use them because they steal experience

I either take a bunch or go solo.

You can 8 just on regular game without mods, maybe 9 now with dawnguard out so that's good for console people. They tend to get into big ole fights amongst themselves though if one person hits another on mistake.

Kinda funny to watch.

Solo. Always. I hate the AI for the followers when just walking around and they don't seem to be of use to me anyways.

I'm a solo guy on sneak characters. Warriors are always accompanied by marcurcio(sp?) for some sweet lightning.

Well, with my first character (Nyx, Dunmer battlemage, L42, temporarily retired), I played solo just to get a feel for the game; I did the same with Fallout 3 (even though I like having followers in that game).

My second character (Tiberius, Imperial Warrior [battle-axe master], currently L45, active), I originally planned to find him a follower, but I never could figure out who the right one would be. I did find a few potential good ones, but by then I was into the Blades quest, so I had him induct Iona, Kharjo, and Stenvar. Figure they're all the followers he needs.

My third character (Stormpelt [yes, I did get the idea from "The Warriors" books], Khajiit Mage/Assassin, currently L14, inactive) went with Lydia for awhile, but she wasn't that great a fit with him. I'm going to have him recruit Marcurio instead: I think they'll prove a devastating combination.

if playing on master and don't level your health then your either going to need to invest in one of the skills like (conjuration,sneak,or,illusion).or take a companion with you. just to survive a single battle.

Exactly.

My Master conjurer had really low health since I only invested maybe 5-10 level's out of 38ish into health and the rest into magic (with 2-4 into stamina). He was a beast, but, on Master, one power attack and he was insta killed, so I needed meat shields to distract things. I got good at dancing around, avoiding blows, while throwing massive fireballs into undead chests =P

after making all followers essential, I take my Orc with me EVERYWHERE XD

Everything you want to know about followers, including a spreadsheet with more details, at this link:


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

Good luck.

PS: It's also a good idea, of you're on the PC, to make your follower essential, that way they can't die.

Interesting story about my main and followers. No matter what, they always seem to die one way or another. I've had about 7 different followers, and they end up dying every time. Now hes just a lone wolf, fearful of letting anyone else follow him. It seems to be a death sentence for anyone he chooses.

M'aiq did say our characters are dangerous to be friends with. He was right.

When I first got Skyrim (my first TES game) I picked up Faendal from the start and used him until he died. Then I just rolled solo. Just got back into Skyrim recently and I find myself using followers quite often.

I prefer solo.

Solo, always. I don't like the idea of having followers. I also don't like them sitting in my house, knocking over my cups and eating my cheese.

I like the idea of having a follower and i like the idea of the company they provide. But the reality is that they just get in my way and more often than not I take them along on my travels but as we approach a cave or bandit fort I order them to wait, go do my thing then come back and order them to follow me...