I'm still a low level an I'm enjoying Feanreal or w/e his name is from riverwood, but I was wondering who you all like for a ranged follower or magic follower.

I was considering J'zarrgo I'm level 12 now when should I travel to the college to get him (what level)

Aela the Huntress, Jenassa, Ghorbash, Derkeetus and Anneke Crag-Jumper are all archers.

I prefer Anneke Crag-Jumper as she also favors Light Armor so she doesn't give you away all the time while sneaking like Aela the Huntress, Jenassa, etc. She looks dang hot in Forsworn armor also.

i'm married to brelyn, but i use aela, eola and the dark brotherhood initiate also...and they all look good in the foresworn armor...i make sure i don't pick up important followers too early in the game since they don't level up...so i wait till at least level 25 to get my favorite followers, but early in the game...fendal is good cause he's more expandable as the game moves along and you get free archer training..i like to use stealth and some followers are better than others..most of the archers are better for stealth...the mage followers are pretty offense oriented.

J'zargo, Marcurio, Aranea, and Erandur are good mage followers. Best sneak archers, one handed users are dark brotherhood initiates and Cicero, they are also unkillable. If you have dead thrall, the best followers are Sebastien Lort, Malkoran, and Orchendor. Orchendor is a crazy powerful follower to have as he has a teleport that heals himself. Malkoran turns into a magic spamming shade when he is rekilled that is hostile to everything and drops 250 gold when it dies. There is an awesome topic on dead thralls at http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/615803-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/61115903 that is almost 40 pages long if you really like followers.

J'zarrgo, Cat Dude rocks!!!!!!!!!

the god thing about him is he blasts from a safe distance and does not get in the way, of barrages, flying greatswords or indeed you running away

Hands down, Eola is the best follower in the game.

Ask to trade, it's "What do you want to take" in an entirely helpful and non-passive aggressive tone.
She is respectful and refrains from making inane comments while traveling through dungeons.
Give her Sanguin's staff and she summons a daedra and/or a fire thingamaginie
Give her the Ebony Mail and she won't give you away when sneaking (much)
She never complains or leaves your service when you murder innocent travelers, steal their stuff and eat their still warm (or day old) corpses.
She hurls big ass fireballs which never seem to hit you no matter how close you are to the person she is targeting

But, hold off on picking her up until you are level 30 or so (which is her level cap).

I've traveled with J'zargo a lot and then I accidentally killed him and I felt so bad (it was dark, we were surrounded by Falmer...) So, I went back through the ruin and found his body, I rezzed him and now he won't travel with me again. He says "J'zargo wants you to go away. You've hurt us too much." LOL

But yea, he's a cool cat and interesting travel companion. Haven't tried any of the other mages. Not sure if they want to travel with me now. The Nord mage said I'm trouble. -.- And I was like "Hey, watch how you talk to you Archmage!" LOL

Derkeethus. <3

J'Zargo. Woooo Khajiit!

Lol, so much followers, how to get them? The Lydia and Faendal are both dead. Iam Archmage but J'zarrgo dont want follow me. He talk for himself in third person.

hmm interesting, thought they leveled up with me, now both Mjoll and Aela must be like level 20.... No amount of master smithing will solve that. Can i use the advskill command on them to level em up?

I've only ever done the disable/enable trick to sync levels, but if advskill does work on followers, this opens up a new realm of possibilities. I haven't tried it myself, but I've read that setav and addperk work fine for NPCs, so I don't see why advskill wouldn't.

I have J'zargo who I love immensely but I met him so early on in the game (around level 4 or 5) that he was pitifully weak and after accidentally killing him a few times, I resorted to upping his health a bit through the console. One thing that cracks me up about him is that if enemies get too close to him he will switch to hand to hand combat. He likes to punch dragons in the face >.<

Dead Thrall-wise, I have Orchendor (with Sanguine Rose) and a female high elf Master Necromancer and they mow down nearly everything that gets in their path. If only I had a ring to summon them back to my side when they run off in pursuit of an enemy and then fall into a body of water dead where I can't poof them back to life.

I don't get why noone mentioned Marcurio from Bee & Barb? -He's been my favorite for quite a while - he does insane damage, sneaks rather well (Even have the "silent roll" perk, which you can see if he gets too far behind while sneaking ), and has a great personality, hehe...

Downside of him is that he uses chain-lighting - which will hit any OTHER follower you have. He killed my dog once, and when I ride along the road on Shadowmere and jump off to fight, it always ends up with Marcurio and Shadowmere pounding each other when the bad guys are dead. -In which case I have to jump on Shadowmere and ride very fast very far till they forget how mad they are at each other

Derkeethus !!!

there are ways to enhance the followers even though they don't level up....first of all i wait till level 25 to get my favorite followers, that way they aren't level 5 or 10..it helps, secondly i utilize enchanting so i double enchant all their gear, it makes a big difference, lots more health, stamina, magic, plus enchants like muffle or skill boosts, and lastly i make sure they have all good armor thats upgraded, staffs, all enchanted bows and swords etc..so between all that, its seems to work fine..i'm at level 55 and all my followers i got at level 25 or 30 are pretty tough and can dish out lots of damage..

Derkeethus & Aranea are my favorites (archer & conjuror).