Is it just me or do followers just run right into your pillars of flame, bolts of lightning, or any other spell or weapon that you might be using? I mean, there's trying to help, and then there's getting in the way. Prime example: I'm now starting to use the more advanced destruction spells such as chain lightning, which when used, can strike multiple enemies at once. (If they're close enough) I use this as my number one defense now and I love it, except for one thing. I can't use it when I have a follower with me! Almost every time I've tried to use it on an enemy, my follower just runs right into the frame (And strike distance) to attack the target, and ends up getting hit as well, resulting in death. I would much rather have someone with me for two reasons: One, they can carry stuff for me so that I can pick up even more stuff. Two, they provide good distractions, especially with the tougher foes like the Dragon Priests. However, it's getting to the point where it's almost not worth it anymore. I've killer three of my followers because they carelessly ran in front of me when I was casting. Shadowmare is equally annoying when it comes to getting into fights, but at least he can't die. Lucien LaChance is a great kind of follower because you can accidentally kill him, but you can just bring him back in a days time. (You get that spell from Astrid after you complete a certain mission in the Dark Brotherhood) The only down side is that he can't carry anything. If anyone can give me or anyone else who is having this problem any tips, (Besides, "Just don't have a follower!") it would be much appreciated.

Only thing I can figure, aside from instructing them to wait well and away from fighting, is to use an essentiall follower. Only essential ones are, I'm pretty sure, Mjoll the Lioness, Derkeethus, Cicero, both Dark Brotherhood Initiates, and Erandur. Problem using them is that Mjoll and Cicero never stop talking, and you can't use the Wabbajact trick to get them to scale to your level since they're essential. @@

There are some mage and archer based followers that will stay back and fight at distance. This is great if you want to tank, they can pop shots off at range. You're seeing that an AI tank will get in the way of your ranged shots, so perhaps select one that will stay back and fight from afar with you.

this friendly fire thing is stupid almost no other game has it for fallout I think it's fine you shoot In fallout and if your using aoe your powerful enough to stay on your own usually but for skyrim followers have friendly fire and for mages the tank followers die fast which is stupid because mages usually need a tank and use aoe spells

You just have to work around it. It svcks but that's the way it is. Once you get a feel for how much damage your spells will do, you can get away with using most area destruction spells and not kill your followers----except for Chain Lightning. That spell seems to be a one time first strike option before your follower buffoon runs into the middle of the action. Then you have to switch to something else.

But I've found that I can still use Incinerate and Wall of Fire without killing my followers. I just have to be careful. And once the follower goes down to one knee, then I switch to Icy Spear or Firebolt.

It's already been said but it bears repeating, the friendly fire aspects in this game svck. Enemies can't kill their own, and if you have a follower that uses area spells, it doesn't affect you.

There must have been some serious fights going on behind the scenes when it came to the implementation of destruction magic in this game because there are a lot of odd inconsistencies with it.

Thanks for the input everyone! I'll try what was mentioned here and see if it yields results. Hopefully it will, but if not, I might just have to go it alone like someone mentioned. I'd miss the carrying capacity though.

I can't stand followers. Go get the Steed Stone right away, that helps with carrying cap. Save up to buy a house (Breezehome in Whiterun's the logical one early), so you have a place to dump the stuff the merchants have run out of money to buy (if you're on pc there's a couple of good mods on the Nexus for giving merchants a bit more gold....)

I don't miss the followers at all. Just spare me the blather, the stupidity of failing to miss traps, the incidence of friendly fire.... I'm much happier alone.

Shadowmere can die.

Generally I put my follower back out of sight of the combat and close enought that I can retreat back to them if I need their help. I do get tired of them spoiling my sneaking and dying just when I defeat a tough enemy.

In Oblivion I almost always coaxed my followers to get themselves killed by the enemy before I "accidently" killed them, that way I don't get the murder count and they are thankfully no longer following me. I have only just purchased Skyrim and I am on my way to find these Grey berded fellows so I am hoping my solution works in Skyrim if the followers become anoying and start jumping on to my sword...I think some followers in Oblivion you could also tell them to "wait here", then go clear the dungeon and come back to get them once everything is dead if they were needed to complete the quest.

At the very beginning of Oblivion you meet that guard in the first Oblvion Gate, I always took his stuff because it was at that point a lot better then anything I already had and with that follower I learned that getting them to kill themselves was benificial to my game, especially early on.

I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm the only player who isn't constantly killing their follower(s). I do friendly fire mine on occasion, but I've gotten it down to a near minimum--even though he's often charging in ahead of me. My character is a mage/spellsword and my follower (Erik the Slayer) is a tank...it's a combination that works really, really well for me, but it might not for you. You may want to try a ranged follower, or even another mage, if you find your tank follower is getting in the way too much. I hear Marcurio's supposed to be pretty awesome.

If you do stick with a tank follower, trust me when I say...learn to aim, and when to hold your fire. The way I play, I usually get off the first (spell) shot as a sneak attack. (Yes, it is possible to sneak with followers. You just have to find one that's good at sneaking.) Then Erik charges in ahead and takes all the enemy aggro while I sneak around to the side and flank with spells or sword. This means: Erik and I aren't constantly fighting for elbow room--which means I'm far less likely to hit him, and I've usually got a clear line of sight on him and whatever enemy we're fighting. If I have a clear shot, I'll take it. If I think there's even a chance I might hit Erik, I hold my fire or try to move around for a clearer shot.

When it comes to AoE stuff, that's a little trickier. I don't use chain lightning usually, since that's meant for taking down groups, and I'm more of a "pick the enemy off one by one" type. I'll usually use AoE spells as a first salvo though, to do a lot of damage before Erik goes ahead and charges in. I've also gotten to the point where I've enchanted most of Erik's gear with resist magic/fire/shock enchantments, and his health is so absurdly high (he's got ~450 health at level 34 IIRC), that I feel comfortable dropping a fireball or two even when he's in a fight. He'll yell at me for it, but it doesn't do too much damage to him. Though if he's getting low on health I won't do that for obvious reasons. (With Erik, I've had him following me for long enough that I know he has specific lines of dialogue he'll say when his health is starting to get low, and I know what they are. When I hear one of those lines I know it's time to avoid AoE/Shouting, or to break out the Healing Hands spell if I really need him in the fight.)

Shouts are another kind of tough one, but it comes down to aiming again. I'll only Shout when I know Erik's out of the line of fire...either when he hasn't charged in just yet, or is off-camera somewhere. Although this can lead to some Yakkety Sax style antics where I have to run around a room until I know he's out of the (admittedly quite wide) blast radius.

Basically, it's completely possible to use a tank follower if you're a mage. Just keep an eye on them, know when to use AoE and when not to, aim your spells properly, etc. It's not totally foolproof...sometimes Erik will charge on in when I'm not expecting him to, zig when I expected him to zag, whatever. Then I may hit him and get yelled at over it. Or accidentally FUS RO DAH him into a wall or something. Doesn't happen too often, though.