So on my newest character I thought I would try out by not using magic other than restoration. I would start depending on followers to help me during rough times. Come to find out that they're so damn useless. They drag behind. What's even more devastating is in fact that one of the companions, Vilkas, was beaten down by a WOMAN bandit! According to sources Hes suppose to be master in 2 handed weapons.... in that bandit fight it proved otherwise.




Edited: I corrected the name.

Another thread that makes me glad I roll as a lone wolf.

I just went through a Nordic Ruin with Marcurio, the mage. He helped me level everything in my path, and also messed up the dragon priet at the end.

I've been using the orc follower and she is one mean badass. Don't give up on the followers, they are very effective if given good gear. But watch their back since they aren't invincible either, nevertheless, my follower and me have been through many a nasty scraqe together.

I find the followers to be inconvenient.

They usually get in the way of my melee attacks, and like to shove my character. I have yet to be pushed off of a cliff, though it is annoying when I'm trying to sneak and my follower insists on being right on top of my character instead of keeping some distance. If Aela the Huntress wants to make out with my Nord, that can wait until after the dungeon.

Since my Nord doesn't need a tank and does enough damage on his own, I wouldn't bring a follower along, except for the company or for rp purposes. It would also be nice if followers leveled up at the same time as the dragonborn without needing to use the wabbajack on them.

They get in the way, are not particularly smart, they aren't too durable or powerful either, and the game is also easy enough that there is no reason to have them. Also, they do not have any personality or anything that even makes dragging them around worth it.

Once you get up a bit in levels, Lydia is pretty good...and tends to stay out of the way due to using the bow a lot more (the trick is to give her a high archery boost ring, and then she pretty much stays on the bow).

However, biggest issue I have with the followers is that I can't use Stormcall as often as I would like.

You have to have the patience to use them effectively. That's pretty much all there is to say about it. To me, when they're distracting 2-3 bad guys or an exceptionally fierce dragon so that I can sit back and pump arrows or fireballs into them---or keep hitting them in the back with an axe, they're being effective.

I use them only when my character's armor protection is weak and they don't belong on pure stealth missions.

A waste of what precisely?

Not just melee, but all attacks. I've killed two followers on accident when they jumped in front of my fireballs...

As a necromancer I like having Companions+summons as bait and tank and so on.

I've only used Lydia, but I expect all the followers work the same: they manage to hit all the trap triggers, as soon as combat starts they refuse to listen to you, they like to stop and stand in the middle of a doorway when indoors, they'll run right in front of your swing in combat, but out of combat and outdoors they prefer to lag fifty meters behind you, sometimes they'll just stand there and watch you walk off into the distance, and so forth.

And yet...

And yet, they can double the amount of loot you can carry, they do well at tanking for you if you're no good at melee, or they can stand back and use magic or archery while you hit the bad guys with heavy, sharp objects. They're worth using even though they can be frustrating. Treat them like mildly [censored] assistants that you have to keep a close eye on, but who, when given direction, can be quite useful.

Some of them aren't worth the effort. Belrand tried to kill me after I hit his summoned wolf. After going through Aela, Faendal, Farkas, Vikas, Belrand, Argis, Lydia, Cicero, Illia, Erandur, Eola, Aranea, and Mjoll, I'm back to Marcurio. I had to get rid of him the first time because I never had a chance to even get halfway to the enemy. He's just wickedly badass and just compliments my play style. Trial and error to find to right one.

Followers aren't a waste. Yes they can die! But if you don't want them to die then just reload a previous save.

I use them as pack mules and as defenders. The A.I. can be annoying sometimes but overall followers are worth it.

Are you sixist? Or did I miss something?

Followers are worthless. All of my characters handle combat well enough without them, and they just get in the way. Not to mention the utter stupidity in having to keep track of them, where I'd be speeding across the Reach just to turn around to get something out of my followers inventory to see them nowhere near me but instead still stuck behind the mountain I was able to get over but they inexplicably can't. And I wont' even go into their annoyances in dungeons.

I don't use followers becuase I rely on quick, deft tactics and lightning attacks. Can't afford to have some tin-can-man with a hunk of iron the size of national debt dragging 15 paces behind me. I also feel bad when they get killed.

Why use a companion? They hog all the fighting so you don't have a chance to practice your own skills. Only use is carrying some of your loot. A small pack mule that follows a small distace behind you unless called and stays out of fights completely would be of more use.

It's frustrating that they don't follow you properly. For goodness sake, they're Followers!!

But, I really can't go without Lydia because she carries a lot of junk for me. I just have to svck up the bad with the good.

Cheers.

This is a remarkably ignorant odd comment in this day and age ...

Incidentally, gender in Skyrim appears to be a matter of aesthetics, so it is irrelevant.

I'm rollin' with Illia right now. She's a mean frost mage and also dual wields staves I gave her! My character is a dual wielding warrior and it's nice to augment the melee fights with some magic. Oh, just don't give them a staff of Paralysis. When I traveled with Marcurio, he sometimes missed the enemy and hit me instead LOL Silly guy...

EDIT: OH yea, I totally agree with Psymer, concerning the "OMG he was beating down by a WOMAN" comment! Not cool

They are OK for RP gameplay , but im a necromancer so all i need is my undead servants and nothing more

Must... resist...

Anyway, Marcurio is a beast. The only problem I had with him is that he fried everybody before I had a chance to reach them. It's no fun to just stand and watch your follower do all the work...

There is a trick with the wabbajack to level followers?? O.o

OT: Followers are great...

#1: Mules... get to carry more loot out of dungeon crawls
#2: Alternate target for enemies
#3: additional source of damage in fights

Just pair up right... My assassin didn't take a follower until I got a DB Initiate so I could have a proper stealth follower.... My mage usually likes a tank, but is on AoE (Adept) level destro right now... so a 2nd mage follower is far preferable so I don't keep blasting them to death . With my warriors, an archer or mage follower is best, and my archer always wants a tank.

They fall behind if you sprint a lot in the wilderness which is when there most often missing for a battle... in dungeons moving pace is slower and I ditch them a lot less often.