I want a follower who won't get killed right away, any suggestions?

Edit: I am a stealth/archer type character so I would want a warrior type character to balance things out

I am also level 81 so I don't really expect to hold their own against alot of enemies but I was just curious

I used the archer In river run for awhile because I could have him train me and take my money back from him (don't think that's spoiler). All followers are same level as you so it's up to you to equip them so they don't die.

They level with you, though J'Zargo is the only one who levels up to 81. The rest level to 50 or below.

My favorite at the moment is Jenassa; I like the dual-wield, and I like the voice - she's in Whiterun, I believe, in a tavern.

I thought followers couldn't die unless you killed them?


I used Faendahl, Lydia and then hired the Mage Marcurio, in Riften. His destruction is so powerful he often kills enemies before I close on them in melee.

I didn't know that about J'Zargo. That's weird.

Yeah, Jenassa is cool.

it really depends on your playstyle and who you think would compliment that the best. there's no realy right or wrong in choosing a follower, i've never had an issue with any of them really.

lydia got killed more than most but then i used her more often.

as a thief/assassin type i always found warriors to be the best companions, though other stealth types were ok too, never had much luck with mages for some reason.

beefing them up with decent equipment always helps too.

Derkeethus is the best.

He can't die, is loyal, cool voice, is an argonian and he dual wields a pickaxe.

Yea they just go down on one knee, I think dragons can kill them though. Might be a amount of damage they take on one knee.

i use eola most of the time, she levels to 30 or 40 which is fine, her destruction skill is 75, she's got plenty of health and i give her enchanted gear with more health, magic, light armor, not that she really needs it, she conjures a lot of stuff, and she uses expert destruction spells. having said all that, i think all the followers are kinda cool to try out. aela is pretty good also, along with illia and even brelyn is cool to have for a follower but she's not quite as powerful as the other female mages, but she's still viable and fun to have around.

Jenessa died on me. As did Lydia. I'm using Erik right now. He's ok. I'm level 26 and starting to run into harder and harder bandits/creatures.

I really like the (simple) back story of Erik. Else I'd go find a mage or use Aela (my wife).

any follower can die. many enemies will stop attacking them if they fall incapcitated.

I love Kharjo. he had cool voice, does not babble too much.

If they take damage faster than they can regen health while down then they will die. Unless you are doing a healing spell on them, it's best to move away from them so they don't get hit by any AoE attacks or get caught some other way.

I use Kharjo a lot, he seems to be pretty good. Heavy armor warrior that will use a bow at range instead of charging.

Mage: J'Zargo

Ranger: Aela

Tank Warriors: Erik the Slayer, Mjoll the Lioness or Argis the Bulwark are all excellent choices.

I always wondered if they levelled with you. It seems to me Lydia doesn't seem as tough as when I first got her.

I like Jenassa because I'm role playing a warrior who can't pick locks, and she's good at that. But I don't feel as warm and fuzzy to her as much as Lydia.

Unless this was changed in some patch...the only way your follower will die is if they take damage from you. If they are that low in health, your splash damage will kill them.

Derkeethus is actually glitched.

Derkeethus can't die.

Tip: give them health potions and they can heal themselves better. They don't seem to use any other kind. Also be sure to keep Healing Hands favorited.

The issue with their levelling was that their stats didn't actually increase. It may not be every follower, but Lydia was one who was affected. This may or may not have been fixed with patch 1.3, I've seen claims both ways. My own experiences leave me unsure. I've found Lydia and Jenassa eventually become difficult to keep alive, but I haven't been good about upgrading their armor along with my own. If you have to choose, your followers probably should have better gear than you, including jewelry. Also remember that they can get caught by the scaled levelling the same as you. If (or rather, when) you suddenly start running into bandit chiefs who one-hit you, be extra careful of your followers.

Agree with Argis and Erik for tanks (haven't run with Mjoll yet). Erik is my favorite, because he's so gosh-darn enthusiastic. Give him a 2H weapon and stand back.

Supposedly Mjoll can't die because she's Essential.

Non-essential followers absolutely can die from enemy attacks; I've seen it happen. If they go down on one knee, and then take a killing hit again before they can heal up, they will die.

If anyone wants to fix Derkeethus' essential status, put "StopQuest DarkwaterCrossingDerkeethusRescueQuest" into the console. He'll also stay in your house now if you've married him.

Mjoll can't die, Cicero can't die, and the Dark Brotherhood recruits can't die.

But on to the topic. Cicero wins hands-down. 100 sneak, muffled, 100 one-handed, tons of personality, essential, and can't be disarmed by Draugr.

Followers have their stats locked the moment you enter the cell they're in. If you enter Whiterun and first see Lydia at Lvl 6, her stats will be permanently locked, even though her overall Level will increase. Which is why followers you meet early on tend to get their ass kicked hard later on. There are two known fixes for this. If you're on PC, you can simply open the console menu, click on the follower, type "Disable" and then "Enable", and it re scales them to your lvl. If you're on Xbox 360 or PS 3, you can use the Wabbajack on them after dismissing them, and have them transform into a creature/dremora. When they transform back, it re scales them. This one has just recently been discovered.

Mage wise, i'd have to say the best is Marcurio. He tends to have much more powerful spells and a better AI than J'zargo. I haven't really messed around with any Warrior or Stealth followers yet.

Cicero

Also found a unique exploit to level up your followers to your current level if you got them to a lower level:


Use Wabbajack until the companion is turned into dremora, rabbit, or chicken. After the companion turns back to normal, they'll be leveled up to your current level.

After you get reallly good ,, they ALL svck so bad they hold you back.. but lydia and aela are damn good for a mid-level character in levels 20-30s maybe
Im level 64 and i cant stand em... i just like them to sit at my house and ccook for me

welllll i am a bit wrong. it depends on what your able to givethem
I gave aela a daedric bow and daedric armor, she wont die soon and she stays back pickin off enemies one by one with double enchanted legendary daedric bow that does about 200 damage if i recall correctly as well as 31 fire damage to health and 31 frost to health and stamina

Any follower can be killed. Truth be told tho, its only likely that they will be killed by wild animals. Human AI will stop attacking them if they are downed to attack you. Animals will usually finish the downed character then attack you. Im pretty sure thats how it works, although it may be that the animals hit harder and just kill them without giving them the chance to go down on one knee.

WOOOOOAHHHH ima be wabbajackin aela soon!!....... that sound akward...,.........

Thanks everyone I will have to check out some of these followers for sure and if you have anymore worth checking out let me know!

Thanks for the tip, I'll do that.

God, now I have to do the stupid Sheogorath quest again. *groans*