So i was thinking... Since you can have companions in Skyrim would it be possible to just let them battle everything for you while you stand back and heal them and or supply them with posions and potions? In this way you could also sort of play the side kick and not actually be the main hero. I mean technically if all you are doing is healing and supporting your companion he/she would be the one saving the world. Would the NPC's recognize this? Would they end up praising your companions name or your own? If this was possible this would completely throw off the lore considering a regular citizen of Skyrim, not the Dragon Born, was the won who saved the world. Feel free to speculate, i just thought it was interesting.

Well that other person still wouldn't be the one learning the Dragon Shouts. Even if your companion did all the physical fighting, I think it will be the fact that you (only) learning the language/shouts makes you the chosen one/hero.

Edit: In other words, killing dragons is fine and well, but that isn't directly what will probably cause victory...just a guess.

I doubt the game NPC's are scripted to see it that way, but I suppose you could play the game that way.

agrees swith wulfgar/ you wouldnt be able to level up that much if you just heal and do alchemy and i doubt NPCs level up so eventually it would be a level 26 healer trying to keep a lvl 5 npc alive

If you let someone else do all the work, you are not getting your skills up. Now, I could be wrong, but with the possible exception of someone like Esbern, I think you may be on your own against Alduin at the end. Good luck with that, with low skills and few perks in weapons or destruction. The only way I can see it happening is a huge stock of enchanted staves.
Another point is the amount of complaints about the ending of the Oblivion crisis. You can play whatever the hell way you like, but being a sidekick is definitely the minority way to enjoy playing.

I don't think it would work very well.

I can't imagine that companions won't level. It would pretty well force you to leave them at home or turn the game into an extended escort quest. Yuck!

It might be possible to pull off a pure buff character, granting weapons, resistances and health to an ally... and in doing so create an oblivion style situation in which the side kick does all the work... but also is the main guy at the end of the game... Honestly, if I saw Joe Blog from down the street fighting a dragon, because this other dude was firing up some powerful spells turning him into a ultra warrior, I would give my respects to the other dude

You're supposed to be the hero, not a random NPC.

;-)

I have doubts that it will work well.

-Mr. Maric

Eh idk. How far do companions level? Are there still Fortify Attribute/Skill spells?

I wouldnt do it as a PURE healer, no. But as a Restoration/Conjuration/Illusionist? Seems pretty viable. Use Illusion for CC(frenzy, calm) and Conjuration for an extra sidekick+control spells, with you primarily backup healing(and buffing) with some CCing... Id still make use of a weapon and maybe Heavy Armour(tanking is a form of crowd control) + shield, or spell+shield, but I dont see why it wouldnt work. The only caveat would be any situation or quest where you cant have a companion with you, but summons would still work.

Edit: This is partly because in past games enemy AI always makes a b-line strait for the player, and I dont imagine it to change much in Skyrim(they are taking steps forward, but theyre baby steps). A solution may be to have a short 1-3s Invisibility spell to use as an aggro drop, if that spell is still in the game.

Yeah just pure restoration and alchemist might not work. So yeah just using any pure support spells and conjuration i would think it would work. And this was just an idea. I know pretty much everyone wants to be the Dovakiin Hero of Skyrim, but after about the 4th playthough it will get old in my opinion. This was just an idea of how to go through the game doing something completely different. Yes it depends alot on how the companions work, but from what i've read so far on these forums the companions are actually going to be realistic. They are supposed to gain level with the player just as all the creatures and bandits do. That and you are supposed to be able to equip your companion with what ever you want. meaning you could give him bad ass enchanted armor and weapons. BGS said they made companions so that they wouldn't die as soon as a battle starts. Which makes sence considering that apparently pretty much everyone can be your companion. If they all died right away Skyrim would be pretty devoid of people before long. So this should be a very viable option. And yeah i dont think the NPC's would praise your companion at all, but who knows. And you are not forced to learn any dragon shouts as far as i know, you can go through the entire game without learning one. I mean you may learn the word and you may absorb a dragon soul, but you have to attach the soul to the word by yourself from what i've seen and the game never forces you to do this. So if you want you can play through skyrim as an average joe, you dont technically have to be the Dovakiin though im sure all the NPC's will still call you as such.

I might make a playthrough where I do that. I'll find a companion I want to be the hero and then set them as essential or something. Oooh I might mod one in!

That would be pretty neat! shame i play on an xbox :shrug: My computer can barely run solitare :facepalm:

The companions should level up but only their health and armor or something.

also does anyone know if we can give them potions? will they have inventory? can we give them armor?

From what i've heard yeah we can do all of that. And they do have an inventory.

^Sweet!

Yeah, why not? But you need a lot of mana i guess, to heal your companion while he beats a dragon.
It is all depends on AI though, i wouldt count on it.