Any ideas why I can't get Lydia to wear Elven armor? : V

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 1:25 pm

Hi All,

I have noticed that Lydia will not wear Elven armor or gauntlets I've made, she wear Dwarven armor but that is so heavy it means she can't carry much else, is the reason she won't wear Elven armor because of the fact she's a Nord? I know the backstory is that Nord's and Elves have always been enemies, wish she'd wear it, it's so light :-)

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:03 pm

She uses the highest rated armour in her inventory. Generally her default armour outranks most light armours.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:29 am

Probably because the Steel stuff she's wearing by default is better (she's a heavy wearer).

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 1:11 pm

I thought Lydia was an Imperial.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:41 am

Elven Armor is a light armor, and Lydia's default equipment is heavy armor. It may have lower armor rating than her default, or she just doesn't use light armors :shrug:

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:38 pm

It's because she has a higher Heavy Armour skill than Light Armour, so she always chooses Heavy over Light.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:11 pm

I thought Lydia was an Imperial.

She doesnt sound Nord'ish to me.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:20 pm

just take out her default armor and sell/drop it. Then she should use the Elven armor. Pretty sure Elven > Naked...unfortunately...

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:37 am

I thought Lydia was an Imperial.

Yeah, you're right, I was just thinking of why she wouldn't wear it the others are right maybe its because she rates her default armor better, but I would think the defense rating the Elven armor, especially improved, gives is better as it is higher rating than the Dwarven armor that she does wear. Seems odd

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:10 am

Another little bug, is Areana, if you give her anything she just wears the top part and go's in her undies.... even if you give her better robes than what she's wearing. Unless you kit her out in heavy armour? She's dead now, so no longer my problem but it was frustrating.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:59 am

just take out her default armor and sell/drop it. Then she should use the Elven armor. Pretty sure Elven > Naked...unfortunately...

You can't take her default armor away as far as I can tell it doesn't even show up as an item

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:22 pm

Another little bug, is Areana, if you give her anything she just wears the top part and go's in her undies.... even if you give her better robes than what she's wearing. Unless you kit her out in heavy armour? She's dead now, so no longer my problem but it was frustrating.

That's probably a bug, the thing with Lydia however isn't a bug.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:10 am

I let Lydia die. Easy fix to your problem.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:03 am

If you are on a pc you can use console commands to set her light armor skill higher.

A2C94.setav lightarmor 100
A2C94.setav heavyarmor 0

Then she will prefer light to just about any heavy. Or you can balance them or whatever. Adjusting these two numbers sets her "preference" for one sort over another.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:43 pm

Elven Armor is a light armor, and Lydia's default equipment is heavy armor. It may have lower armor rating than her default, or she just doesn't use light armors :shrug:

Lydia is sporting a complete set of Glass in my game. They will wear whatever armor gives them the best rating, even if their armor skills are skewed one way or the other.

In other words, Elven is not that good an armor compared to her stock stuff. However she will wear Scaled and Glass for sure. She would not put on the Epic Plate armor I made for her.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:09 am

I thought Lydia was an Imperial.

Me to at first but shes really a Nord.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:00 am

Lydia is sporting a complete set of Glass in my game. They will wear whatever armor gives them the best rating, even if their armor skills are skewed one way or the other.

In other words, Elven is not that good an armor compared to her stock stuff. However she will wear Scaled and Glass for sure. She would not put on the Epic Plate armor I made for her.

Yes. You can use the console to give skills and perks though, and these will change the way their armor rating is calculated. This is what causes them (her) to change her preference for equips.

For example, my Lydia (heavily console modded) will wear a complete set of fur before she puts on her steel.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:38 pm

I was able to make Lydia wear a hooded robe and it does not have any armor rating so I guess if you want her to wear Elven armor you would have to upgrade.

ps I am a xbox player

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:33 pm

Doesn't Lydia usually shout out "Skyrim belongs to the Nords!" in battle?

Is that her I'm thinking of or another follower? Eh, I forget... I always thought she was a Nord.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:54 am

Doesn't Lydia usually shout out "Skyrim belongs to the Nords!" in battle?

Is that her I'm thinking of or another follower? Eh, I forget... I always thought she was a Nord.

She is a Nord. And yes, she is most famous for:

"I'll kill you if I have to!" and
"Skyrim belongs to the Nords!"

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:29 am

Yeah, you're right, I was just thinking of why she wouldn't wear it the others are right maybe its because she rates her default armor better, but I would think the defense rating the Elven armor, especially improved, gives is better as it is higher rating than the Dwarven armor that she does wear. Seems odd

Nope. Skill determines armor rating. Even improved Elven Armor is inferior in AR to Dwarven Armor (Which has a much higher "Base" armor rating than Elven), especially as it's likely she has 1-3 "Juggernaut" perks. Not even Glass armor is better than Dwarven for her.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:57 pm

Nope. Skill determines armor rating. Even improved Elven Armor is inferior in AR to Dwarven Armor (Which has a much higher "Base" armor rating than Elven), especially as it's likely she has 1-3 "Juggernaut" perks. Not even Glass armor is better than Dwarven for her.

Truth. You have to take into account everything that goes to the armor calculation. Perks in the Heavy tree, perks in the Light tree, and the skill level.

ALSO:
Your level actually plays a part in this. Remember, Lydia doesn't level up (presently) so her skill level is going to be whatever it was when you first met her. So if you met her at a low level, she won't have very high skills or perks, so it's easier to get her to switch (until you use the console to update her level).

But if you met her at a high level, then she has lots of perk points and probably spent them on heavy armor.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:18 am

Putting a Nord in Elven armor?
That's a paddlin'.

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:48 am

Upgraded some forsworn armor to Legendary and she equips that no problem =)

» Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:41 am

Truth. You have to take into account everything that goes to the armor calculation. Perks in the Heavy tree, perks in the Light tree, and the skill level.

ALSO:
Your level actually plays a part in this. Remember, Lydia doesn't level up (presently) so her skill level is going to be whatever it was when you first met her. So if you met her at a low level, she won't have very high skills or perks, so it's easier to get her to switch (until you use the console to update her level).

But if you met her at a high level, then she has lots of perk points and probably spent them on heavy armor.

This true about companions not leveling up? I got Lydia early in the game, and I'm level 25ish now. I was wondering why she was constantly getting her butt handed back to her in battles. Is this a bug that will be fixed, or is it designed this way? Seems silly to me, gotta wait for mods I guess....