Barbas is like.. the best dog ever! He's a quest npc, so he can't die, and I watched him take on a Master Vampire all by himself. Once Clavicus Vile sends us after the Rueful Axe, now he's the one following me! So.. what happens if I never bring the axe back.. can he be my loyal dog forever?

You really like that dog?! I found him so annoying!!

So long as you don't return him to his master he will remain with you, personally I found him extremely annoying pushing the horse and my character, definitely not one for a sneak character.

you can keep him, but he won't like it. he will bark and whine and push you around.

Personally, I find Horses more annoying than Barbas. Actually riding one tends to be impractical. If you get attacked, your half dead by the time you dismount. Just owning one reduces fast travel time, and they're great to park outside a dungeon to haul massive amounts of loot back home. buy you'll never catch me just riding one around.

I agree with the dismount, it's incredibly frustrating like they are on a picnic or something, but the horse does have gallop, when danger starts I gallop the horse ahead as far as possible then dismount and run back for the fight.

If you planned on being a sneak based character then i wouldnt keep him at all. Though i must admit he's a awesome tank against vampires.

I find any follower annoying, being a sneak character.

But Barbas does pwn everything in his path, he probably cleared most of the dungeon during his quest when I was still sneaking around near the entrance

I recommend Annekka, she is the best companion I've had for sneak so far, though like any other follower if she spots danger she will charge in, what I do is make her wait inside the entrance of some place and scout out any immediate danger and kill it then go back for her.

I'd love a real time hotkey to command followers, a key for wait and a key for follow, it would be much better than having to open dialogue.

A little of topic, sorry.

a necessary question:

Does Barbas has a level base system and does he evolve in his level based system?

If the answer is "yes", Barbas will be the only npc worth of keep.

i don't think any follower does that, but i may be wrong when it comes to barbas. however, he is immortal, so if you can get past him being super annoying and always trying to push you off a cliff, he really is 'the only npc worth of keep'

Heh, I didn't know they could gallop.

There is no need for Barbas to level up, until you return him to his master he is invulnerable and packs quite a bite already.