I'm somewhat intrigued with followers, for the most part they seem to get in the way, but I thought it would be interesting to see everyone's opinions on specific followers they've used.

Please name the follower (And where you picked them up if you remember) and their pros and cons. It might also be helpful to put the type of character you're playing and what level you are on.

:-)

fighter followers will get in the way

mage followers usually will not.

there are 2 mage followers that i know of.

one at Azura;s temple and another in a tower near Riften.

I currently have Uthgerd,you get her at the bannered mare in Whiterun,after you challenge her to a brawl.
I have her set up with all dwarven gear with shield and sword.
I got her at somewhere around level 20 or 21.She isn't a bad follower to have but she does sometimes get in the way.
But you can work around that by just moveing to the other side of the enemy and beat on them from both sides.

Theorycrafting!

best followers are
1. Cicero
2. Aela
...
3. Eona <-- for sneak
4. Marcurio <- for sneak

in that order. If youre playing on master forget about the last two, since they are mages, and good luck damaging anything with them. Cicero and Aela will have 100 Sneak(best of all), so dont alarm enemies. 100 light armor, still hit the maximum possible defense, and can carry loads of stuff. Followers dont have weight reducing perks, fully equipped heavy armored Houscarls have like free 100 weight.Which is not much at all. Cicero/Aela also have 100 archery(best) and can block and fight onehanded. Aela is also crazy, so is Cicero. What more is there to want?? Ideal tanks

The best i've come across is Illia. Found at.. Darklight Tower I believe it's called (south west of Riften).

She primarily uses pretty strong destruction spells and keeps her distance - really compliments a melee character in my opinion.

So far, my best follower has been the chick I picked up at Azuras Shrine (or whatever it was). She was really good at staying back and not getting in my way, the only thing that got annoying was that she always summoned frost atronachs in dungeons which would end up blocking me in some tunnel/hallway.

Ive also had success with using one of the dark brotherhood initiates, it makes me feel important that I can "command" her to follow me and she doesn't say annoying things when I access her inventory lol. However, I don't know if it's because of her sneak or what t she's always right up in my space and tends to push me or stand right in front of me. Also I was testing out my fury/frenzy spells and she and shadow mere started fighting. I forget how I got them to stop, but it was rather annoying.

Is there a way to effectively use the fury and frenzy spells when you have followers, and don't want them to just take out anything in sight?

Also had the same issue when I used the storm shout, my follower kept being hit by lightning and getting mad at me, so I just stood there and continuously kept healing her until it stopped. She kept saying it was my last warning and what not but didn't seem to ever attack me.

I can't decide if having a follower is beneficial or just a hindrance.

I read that you can give followers soul gems and weapons and staffs to fill them, so I gave my follower all the gear and my Azuras star but she hasn't filled it, any suggestions?

Eola is a powerful mage follower, but also one of the few (Berland is the only other one I know of) that will also skillfully use weapons and shields in melee as well and conjure summons.

She has particular tastes however, and will only follow you if you have the same interests. She is also the only follower who is a

I like the guy you can get in the Bee & Barb in Riften.
Don't even know his name but he has ranged magic spells and good sneak.
A couple of levels ago I gave him a staff of paralyze and it works good because he can paralyze enemies while I pump a few arrows into them. Seems to even work on the Deathlords.
Only down side is he whines every time you want to give him stuff or take it away from him.

There's a fairly comprehensive wiki article on this at http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Followers

That said, I've been happy using Jenassa from the Drunken Huntsman in Whiterun. She's a pretty good sneaker and archer - although you have to watch what weapons you give, since like all followers they have quirks that make them ignore smithing and magic effects and will select a weapon that's better at BASE level if you don't watch out. Brelyna from the College of Winterhold is equally sneaky, but perhaps a little too happy and talkative for me. According to things I have read, Cicero is a motormouth (although otherwise an excellent sneaker).

No love for http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Stenvar?

Pretty sure he's the 2nd best warrior (Mjoll is better), and the best male warrior... He gets in the way sometimes, but he likes to shoot arrows from the outside too. Its fun to react to what he is doing and be the tank if he's shooting arrows, or play the outside if he's going in with his 2-hander. I also love sprinting to his rescue when he's i the fray getting overwhelmed and flank attacking all the people focused on him.

Argis the Bulwark and Erik the Slayer both live up to their names. Mjoll is also great.

I have a dark brotherhood Initate and she keeps getting in fights with Shadowmere and I have to reload. Could this be because I gave her some staffs to use or is this a common occurance??

I used Lydia for a long time and properly outfitted she was quite good. Well, actually she was a bloody nuisance, but I grew fond of her and was quite sad when she ran in front of me when I was quick firing arrows at a bunch of enemies. Since then I have operated solo and had a much easier time of it, though I did take Mjoll along on one quest which I felt merited having some extra muscle. The bloody woman didn't stop talking.