I liked Marcurio b/c of his banter....not the best fighter, but not bad.
Jenessa is OK....but she died easliy when confronted by Falmer
DB inititate is by the far best IMO.

Others that have been good.....not so good?

I think it depends on what kind of character you're playing, and what your combat style is.

Marcurio is supposed to be really good at dealing out damage, but he favors spells like Chain Lightning. If you're playing an up-close and personal fighter, he might do more damage to you than the enemy does. A close-in fighter might prefer an archer or another melee fighter.

This. I try to match the follower to the type of fighter I am. When I played a mage, I wanted someone who'd stay back like me and fight from afar: I didn't want to be unnecessarily catching my follower in friendly-fire (and pissing them off)! So Faendal, and later Marcurio, worked out very well. When I played an archer, I could use a melee follower like Vorstag to much better effect: it was much easier to avoid hitting him with arrows than it would have been with spells, and he'd get all up in the grill of the tougher opponents and tank them while I pincushioned them. Now that I'm playing a warrior, I don't want to be the one caught in friendly-fire; either another melee fighter, or an archer suits me best.

I must admit I don't put that much thought into it. I just get the one in the location I am in when I need one.
I have DB initate for my one char and the mean girl who always wants to fist fight for my other char.

IMO, they all svck (except for Serana.) They are all just kinda there...with no rhyme or reason why; no story on who they are, where they came from, and how they came to be in your service. When I run around with companions, I like to know who I'm running around with...you know, birds of a feather and all...

Companions in Skyrim were an epic failure for me. Give me less potential followers, but with a deeper any sort of backstory any day over what we were given to work with.

I find that it works best to get a follower who has a similar skill set to your own. This cuts down on friendly fire.

Leveling followers is important, and I also find that giving them magic resist equipment and an absorb health weapon (for melee fighters) ensures that they are more durable.

I like the orc followers for my melee character, and Erandur or Aranea for my fire mage. My archer has the toughest time because she needs a meat shield but pretty often finds herself shooting her follower in the back. So she takes her husband, Vilkas with her. He'll forgive her.

I like Erik the Slayer.
I think he has the best all-round skill set. He is also tactful with his positioning and when he chooses to pull ahead.
Also, in my experience he does the best job of following my footsteps around traps when I sneak.

For a boss battle I prep him with Call to Arms give myself quite a bit of breathing room.

Maybe most of the better followers are like this (I'm thinking of Janessa or J'zargo or Belrand), I'm just very very comfortable with Erik around. Maybe it's his upbeat attitude.


p.s. as Celan says, levelling is key.

Derkeethus is my bro, he basically has the same skills as my character and the way he talks is great.

Not a big fan of followers, the only two I can tolerate are Mjoll and Serana. Both have a back story, are essential(don't have to worry about them in battle) and damn good fighters! What's that you say? They're both lookers? Never noticed !!

Marcurio hands down is the best follower in the game IMO

Lydia would have to be the worse!!!

I enjoyed having him as a follower. I remember we got sent to clear out Valtheim once, I was still low level and I'd been killed there so many times on other characters when I tried to clear it and wasn't ready. So I decided to do as much as possible by stealth. Crossed the river and climbed way up onto a ledge that was more or less parallel with the second tower (the one not on the road). I had a clear shot at the entrance to that, plus the entire walkway, plus a good bit of the first tower.

Now I know the reason Erik didn't follow me all the way up there was because his AI just wouldn't allow it, but still - it turned out to be awesome. I'd fire a couple arrows at the towers and draw them out, and Erik was staying down by the river, sometimes going back and forth across it, and picking off anybody I couldn't get myself. If they came down out of the first tower towards the road, he'd run up there and melee them to death before they even knew what hit them.

It took a LONG time to draw out every last one of them, but between the two of us we managed to take them all out without ever stepping foot inside the towers. And I didn't die half a dozen times trying to get the job done. Very satisfying.

Olina Westgard was so impressed with Argis The Bulwark because he saved her so many times that she fell in love with him and married him. Seriously, he's extremely good, very strong in melee and amazing with staves. He'll use a soul-trap bow and/or soul-trap axe and if you keep him supplied with soul gems, you'll have all the recharging material you'll ever need. His health is very high. I kept him in ebony armor. He prefers 1H/Shield and is strong in Block also. What Olina really loved about him is that he NEVER complains. The complaining followers are a real turnoff.

Boo Rindoh is extremely impressed with Marcurio. He doesn't use a bow or melee weapons although he'll equip the largest axe you give him on his back. It's just for show though...he never uses it. He will use some staves but prefers his Chain Lightning spell so stand back. I have him in steel armor. He doesn't help provide soul gems for recharging but he doesn't use many either because he heals himself with his Restoration spell. This was an unexpected bonus and makes him very good and strong. He has an indignant comment when you access his inventory but it's funny and hasn't yet gotten on my nerves. He's also very good if you're in the TG because he just looks the other way if you steal.

I used Erandur once but he bugged in Labyrinthian so I couldn't say how good he might be.

Jenassa was strong but I feel she'd be good with someone in the DB.

I found Jordis the Swordmaiden to be very strong and good. She has a sweet voice for someone who kicks so much butt. I can't think of anything special combat-wise though...I recruited her into the Blades. Same with Iona and Benor. Lydia was always great but I got tired of the comment when you access her inventory and I don't care for the Skyrim belongs to the Nords thing so now I'm checking out all the other followers. Great thread; looking forward to good info.