I was looking for sutch a post last night as I've just given Lydia the elbow.. couldn't take anymore of her complaining about carrying stuff lol...

I went and picked up Sven kitted him out in dwaven armour and sword/bow, but I just couldn't take the guy serously, we never even whent into battle he was just tagging along while i was going from shop to shop selling off what I could, by the time I got to riften I had enough of himso I sent him packing and hired mercio or what ever his name is, the apprentice mage in the pub in riften...

he is deadly and that the problem lol, I think since he has been with me he has killed 90% of everything we come across, I might get 2 swings with a sword in or a couple of arrows but that's it.... so if anything he's a little to good for me at the min lol.... think I might try the old worrior guy see how that goes....

The best follower is whoever you recruit from a new location as late in the game as possible, when you are high level. And the location must be one you never visited.

Here's something not many know... followers don't scale to you. Oh, they gain levels with you... and that's it. Their Health, magicka, stamina, and skill levels are set in stone the first time you enter the cell they are in. No matter what you do, those values cannot be legitimately changed.

What this means is that if you explore a lot, you may end up with all your potential followers being worthless crap due to low skill levels and abysmal health.

The only exception seems to be Uthgerd the Unbroken, whose Marksman and Block skills do level up with you.

UESP has all the details. Needless to say, they are more than a bit pissed about it, since it basically makes any early game companion worthless in a hurry, as everything will start oneshotting them left and right.

This HAS to be an oversight. Uthgerd levels as intended... partly, at least. If this is intended, Bethesda basically made every companion useless unless met at insanely high levels. While that may make sense for some, most companions are fighters by trade and unlikely to slack off on training, makes no sense they'd remain static.

Yeah, not amused. Hope this gets patched.

Curious if anyone knows how or if the game scales based on your use of a companion? I am a bit forgetful and find myself wondering why an area seems to be a bit hard then realize I am alone and perhaps having a third target (as I use the flame atronach) may offset how much harder areas seem to get (the empire company bandit marauders are just insane). Agreed on using either a ranged caster or archer as melee NPCs force you to avoid using too many good spells as a mage.

Ive picked up couple from whiterun, but am currently using Lydia.

still not using any of them for much more than carrying stuff though. Everytime I get close to a rough fight, I have them leave, or wait elsewere.

I just want to keep from killing off companions as long as I can. and dont mind tanking through on my own, even if means a bit of extra coin for health potions.

I personally use Vorstygg, don't remember where I found him though. I used Lydia for a really long time, until I turned her into a Blade. And I used the dog Vigilance for awhile too, but he died from an ice spike to the head. Accident, I swear.

Apparently companions don't level, they spawn at whatever level you are when you find them for the first time. So I plan on getting the housecarl from Riften when I get the house, be a level 50 companion.

Can someone confirm this this doesn't sound right.....

try the priestess of Azura...

I liked Aranea Ienith, who you get after choosing the white Azura's Star. She's a very capable mage, and summons her own Flame Atronach in battle.

Shadowmere....now if I could just fit him through dungeon doors!

It was confirmed after extensive testing on UESP. There's some sort of bug that makes most followers, with a couple exceptions (the DB Initiate and Uthgerd to an extent), get locked at whatever skill levels they had when you first met them. Their levels still go up, but nothing else does - no health increases, no stamina increases, no skill increases... nothing.

End result is that most early followers won't even be good for tanking later in the game, as they will crumple like wet paper in one hit from nearly anything. It also SEVERELY discourages exploring, since you risk making all your potential followers into weak crap if you wander too much.

Aela stays out of the way with her bow and is at least expert level in it (she can train you up to level 75 archery)

Marcurio, he talks all the time, is a jerk and destroys with magic. Some of the followers don't even speak, he comments on everything. Mocks you for setting off traps, taking gold and loot from dungeons, etc.

Is this for all versions and is it being fixed?

No idea on both count. I DID observe that early game followers on PS3 die tremendously easily later on - I met Lydia at level 6 or so, and at level 40 she gets stomped flat by the same Falmer mobs she could handle easily back then. So it's likely. On PC it's been tested thanks to the console.

As for a fix? You'd have to ask Bethesda. They DID fix Dogmeat and RL-3 back in Fallout 3 to properly make them scale to you, no idea if they will here as well, but given how the whole premise of Skyrim is 'play how you want', them forcing me to cycle through followers would piss me off considerably - if I want to keep Faendal as a companion to the end I should be able to, I shouldn't have to ditch him because anything above level 30 oneshots him.

I just hired him as well, after having a Conjuration mage from the College following me around for most of my game. Got sick of her!

For mages, definitely ANOTHER mage follower is reccomended. Otherwise, your destruction spells will kill your tank-type followers most likely. Ranged companions are the best for a mage, def.

Be careful about recruiting J'zargo. He steals the stuff you give him - it vanishes forever.

I would think of it as a bug, except J'zargo shamelessly admits to being a thief and expresses an interest in stealing from YOU in particular... Somehow I don't think it's coincidence that whatever you give him turns up missing.

I actually love Aranea. You have a tough quest (Azura) to get through to get her to watch your back, but for my melee nord she is a GREAT compliment. She is a conjurer/destruction mage so when she conjures that just adds one more body to my side of the fight. I also give her all the mage staffs I find and she'll dual wield those like a champ as well.

I've gone through Lydia, Jenassa, Faendol, Erandur and some others because they're playstyle always got them in the crossfire and thus killed. Not Aranea.

I've become somewhat fond of Annekke Crag-Jumper. She's nothing special, but I find her laid back attitude and snarking somewhat relaxing.

Finally, somebody else who uses Annekke. She's my favorite so far. Her attitude and willingness to use bows are perfect.

any of you ever tried Golldir, high lvl with archery, shield/sword, never talks and don't get in the way of my spells :hubbahubba:

On top of that, since they do not level and are around the level you are when you first have them join you, if you want "stronger" companions, get a new one every 10 -15 levels.

Better not...i had a very hard time not letting him die and for me he charges into the fight every time..."hey, just stay back, let the atronarchs do this" "no waaaay!! *charge*" "sigh..."

Anyone here found Illia? She's a converted witch. So far Ive found her to use the most powerful spells (expert level frost spells) that deal serious damage but she runs out of magicka rather quickly and often engages in melee, would easily be the best mage follower if it were not for those shortcomings.

I've been using Mjoll the Lioness for sometime now. Her dialogue is starting to get old though, and I hate that she just yells at me when I need her to carry stuff and I'm in the middle of a burglary. I reckon it's time to find a new companion.

She saved my butt from Krosis when I first stumbled upon him at lv 8.
Most epic companion mage vs mage fight ever. She single handedly solo'd him on master dfiiculty wielding dual firebolt staves while I hid behind the word wall.

Been in love with her ever since.