Yeah.. awhile back i was attacking mammoths and giants with j'zargo and i kept jumping on rocks to avoid getting hit by the mammoth or giant when they came too close. I was having so much fun abusing giants that were rendered pretty much useless by a rock, that i forgot all about j'zargo.

I then remembered followers struggle to get up and over the smallest rocks on a hill nevermind leaping onto the rock i was on so i killed all the giants and mammoths too try and find him but couldnt.. i rested for an hour because when ive galloped away on my horse before and left followers behind if i rest for an in game hour they spawn next to me but he didnt spawn so i searched the area for his body but there was no body to be found, so i fast traveled to nearest city and still no sign. i went to COW and looked around and he werent there, I then tried to get a new follower so i could confirm if he was missing or dead..

got onmund to follow me so i new jzargo was dead..... which really pissed me off because i was gonna take j'zargo all the way to lvl 81 with me.

Hes the only mage that can reach the same level as you but who do you guys thinks is the next best destruction mage?

I tried onmund for awhile but nothing special.
Then i tried the woman who u meet at azuras shrine but she was annoying and not very effective.
Earlier on i changed to marcurio who u can hire for 500 gold at the bee and the barb and so far hes ok, we both use chain lightining and together were pretty much f****** s*** up ! lol

What other destruction mages are there?
Who do you guys think is the best destruction mage? (Excluding J'zargo)

I thought Aranea Ienith was pretty powerful the one time I had her along.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Followers

scrool down and use "external link"
should help you to find the next best.

Is that the woman who's always at azuras shrine?

Ive searched for the best followers loads of times before. Im after actual peoples opinions init

I never travelled with J'Zargo, but I think Marcurio is the best.

Yep. That's her.

Was awhile back that i lost j'zargo now... only just got my skyrim back after a month so i cant really remember what he was like. Everywhere i searched said j'zargo is the best because he can go all the way to level 81 with you whereas most followers levels are capped between 30-50.

But atm im inclined to agree.. marcurio is kickin ass lol keeps nicking my kills tho

Yeah she was depressing lol if i remember rightly she just seemed to conjure frost atronacchs all the time and i cant stand them there too big and they get in the way

I don't know who's the next best mage, but Marcurio is THE best mage (far better than J'zargo, imo). Sure, he only levels to 40 (without mods), but OTOH most of the enemies stop levelling at 50, so frankly I don't really see the point in having followers level all the way up to 81 (I've never been interested in maxing all skills though, so it's never been an issue for me). Give him an armor with fortify health, some fortify magicka gear and some potions, and Marcurio will be strong enough for you for a long time. In fact, he's almost too strong. He takes my kills!

Not when she was with my character. After many fights my character would have one or two of her Ice Spikes in his armor. In fact, that's the reason I stopped using her. She was killing my character with her Destruction spells too often.

Marcurio is the best Mage, he and I usually double team with our magic, no one can stand against us for long.

Yeah ive gave him a circlet, ring, necklace and gloves each one increasing his magicka by 50 points and hes ready. Like you he nicks my [censored] kills lol but hes saved my ass a few times now.

Yeah same, we both use chain lighting and 1 shot from each ov us at the same time can kill 4 bandits at once!

My conjurer currently traveling with Erandur. I will eventually upgrade to Illia or Eola. Most likely Eola. J'zargo is the man but for some reason I just couldn't gel with him this particular playthrough.

Not a fan at all of Marcurio and his "apprentice WIZAAARD" complaining.

Well, he does have an attitude... Personally, I love it. He has lots of interesting comments, too.

Isn't Serana the best?

Marcurio is certainly one of the better "talking" followers, thats one of the main reasons I went after Erandur was in a dwemer ruin last night and he had at least 3 or 4 comments that were pretty interesting, calling dwemer heritcs, talking about the size of the city we were in, wondering (like most) how they could just simply "dissapear" good stuff. Also he seems to actually ENJOY carrying 300 pounds of dwemer scrap metal lol.

Marcurio is the best for me.
Nah. Her ice-spikes hitting my character and resurrection of chickens doesn't help much in battle.

I hardly here him speak lol only when i wana trade items and he has a fit lol other than that he said:

"dwemer technology was so good but nobody followed in there footsteps, i wonder why?"

bout the dwemer ruins when we went inside, that stuck with me bcus it is actually a good question.

but other than that nothing.. hes a quiet guy lol

Pfft, Marcurio is my bro, bros before hoes.

In seriousness, maybe she is, but I would still use my arrogant Imperial mage buddy.

Can a get a Amen! lol

Sorry, theres only room for 1 sausage in this fest, lol.

Marcurio talks.....alot....Thats why I take him, he's such a troll with some of his comments.

Cicero, Marcurio, Mjoll and Erandur are the followers who talk the most I think.

If you are looking only for best "max level" mage I think the next best is Erandur (50) with Illia (40) and Marcurio (40) following. I tend to use my atronochs and zombies as tanks with my followers providing support for my conjurer so all three tend to work well for me, it just boils down to personal taste.

My taste is hiring Marcurio and sacrificing...ya know. Taste and all.