It is true that she will jump in front of you sometimes. Quite a few times i`ve had her leap right in front as I was about to strike and when you have a 2-handed sword in mid flow it`s hard to stop.

But there are plenty of ways to avoid hitting her. What I do:

1. Keep aware of the fact I have a Follower.
2. If I am about to fire an arrow, I never do it if Lydia is in the fight unless I KNOW I won`t hit her- And NEVER if she `s on her knees. That kills her.
3. If I make a strike with a sword and she dives in while I`m in mid flow, i`ve learned to turn away at that last moment so I swing and hit nothing. there have been the odd annoyance when I have a poison on my arrow and i`ve turned in actual firing mode (cos she jumped in the way) and wasted the arrow with its poison, but at least Lydia lives.
4. I also have using a Shout and avoiding Lydia down to a fine art. I can use a Fus Ro dah Shout while she`s fighting someone and blow away the enemy without touching Lydia.... Most times.

I know a lot of people want a perfect AI that`s almost telepathic, but failing that we, the Player, must make up for their limitations.

However, the Devs could`ve done a LOT more to make Followers much less `stupid.`

In my experience Lydia does seem to die a lot easier than e.g. Jordis, Iona, Onmond, Marcurio, etc.
Maybe it's because it was one of my first followers and because I was not experienced enough as a player?

setessential a2c8e 1

Now Lydia cannot die.

I downloaded one of the many many follower fixes mods (get rid of the invisible, re-spawning hunting bow and make sure all followers level with the player) and Lydia has become a bit of a beast. She's a bit squishy still, as I haven't upgraded her armour at all but she can really dish out the hurt. The character that runs around with Lydia is a mage and I focus on Illusion buffs and healing, and she's more than good enough to go toe to toe with anyone if I keep an eye on her and throw some healing hands her way from time to time.

Nah. Not for me.

The Devs need to think of smarter ways to make Followers not do dumb things. Making them unkillable is not it. I like the fact that at least they tried to make Followers Human in that they are mortal. If I really want my Follower, I just reload. All we really need is for Followers to judge a player`s tactics or allow the Player the ability to COMMAND the Follower by telling him whether we want him to fight long/short range, wait for the Player to attack first before attacking, or attack before player. You could have modes like `mage mode` where if the Player is a mage, then Lydia attacks more often and `warrior mode` where Lydia holds back a little and registers when a Player is in full swing.

But I also believe the Follower is not all at fault and the PLAYER also need to compensate for the fact he has a Follower. All too often it`s too easy to blame the Follower for everything, just like many kids blames everyone else in a multiplayer game for a side losing.

I accidently killed Uthgred with a shock rune...

If you're Followers are unusually weak, use this to fix them if you're not on PC and can't use mods. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gJdkajr2sM

Lydia dies easier than most. Wtih one of my characters I mistakenly took her with me to kill a certain clown-like DB NPC and she got slaughtered by that Uder...er...Frost Troll thing. In other games I've outfitted her in heavily smith/enchanted steel plate and upgraded her shield and blade. Haven't lost her since.

Uthgerd, I have found is almost indestructible and much better in a fight if you outfit her with a one handed weapon and shield than she is with her standard two handed weapon.

Maybe the Lydia people use as follower and that she dies often is that they have picked her up at a very low level and her levelling has not progressed properly. You also need to keep her kit as best as you can supply. In my game she is armoured sufficiently to survive one of my arroe shots. it likely just sticks into the tank armour she wears. This is good for me.

I have nearly 300 hours in the game, all but about 20 of these with Lydia.

I try to take consideration of her position in battles, and always ensure her kit is the best I can supply. Yes, her used weapons are as good if not better than mine.

I enjoy the game with her as a follower.

When I took Lydia on her first quest, she died. We went to attack a thalmor base and we were fighting some elves. When we killed them all, I found Lydia on the ground as well. There was around six elves and they each had fire magic, so she could have died in a crossfire, but I'm not sure.

My Lydia got punched into 50M by a giant 3 times in a row when i was running around kiting.... and she just stand up and trying to protect me some mins later...