Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

Never bothered with followers. They usually just got killed really easily, or ran away and were completely useless, and messed up my sneaking.

I played FO3 with no follower until the end (so I could make Fawkes go turn the water purifier on) and I didn't use followers extensively in New Vegas until I modded the crap out of the game to make them worthwhile.

Still, followers are FUN. And once you fix the stats levelling bug, and know what enchanted equipment they can and can't use, they are useful again. The issue is that more than 50% of all item enchantments are bugged and useless for followers. So it is actually hard to power them up effectively.

Lydia at full power can take care of herself. If I am not careful she would steal-kill all the dragons for me.

[Vexx]

I keep tinkering with them - it really depends on the character.
My "sword/board" Nord uses followers regularly because he just kind of slams and frontal assaults anyway.

My thief just uses them for escort on the open roads, she's especially fond of Kharjo the big Khajiit.
My assassin never uses one.
My mage is mixed... she's killed probably half her followers though, I just treat it as part of her "oops, sorry, guess you won't be needing that now" quest for total power. Eventually, she'll just summon new "dolls for friends" I suppose.
My archer so far is using one, mostly as a "looks dangerous, you go first" shield.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I keep tinkering with them - it really depends on the character.
My "sword/board" Nord uses followers regularly because he just kind of slams and frontal assaults anyway.

My thief just uses them for escort on the open roads, she's especially fond of Kharjo the big Khajiit.
My assassin never uses one.
My mage is mixed... she's killed probably half her followers though, I just treat it as part of her "oops, sorry, guess you won't be needing that now" quest for total power. Eventually, she'll just summon new "dolls for friends" I suppose.
My archer so far is using one, mostly as a "looks dangerous, you go first" shield.

Seriously though, it annoys me when a game hides important information from me and I am forced to use a Wiki. I mean, it took me months to find out that "Fortify One Handed" does NOT work on follower equipment. Nor does "Fortify Archery" or "Fortify Block". They are, like, the most powerful enchantments for warriors, and yet my Lydia can't use them at all. Same with all the Regeneration enchantments, Sneaking, or Carry Weight enhancements.

[HasuMasu]

I don't like it when someone is following me around, I have my sexy Flame Atronach anyway.

If I did have a follower, they'd just end up messing with my aim.

[synaesthetic]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I keep tinkering with them - it really depends on the character.
My "sword/board" Nord uses followers regularly because he just kind of slams and frontal assaults anyway.

My thief just uses them for escort on the open roads, she's especially fond of Kharjo the big Khajiit.
My assassin never uses one.
My mage is mixed... she's killed probably half her followers though, I just treat it as part of her "oops, sorry, guess you won't be needing that now" quest for total power. Eventually, she'll just summon new "dolls for friends" I suppose.
My archer so far is using one, mostly as a "looks dangerous, you go first" shield.

Even in Fallout New Vegas my primary use for followers was to carry heavy crap that I obtained by entering hostile areas and slaughtering every living thing in the nearby vicinity.

Though Veronica makes a damn good tank, especially since my Courier is a squishy sniper girl.

My Skyrim characters? Less so. When I last played, there were no real mods yet, so I stuck with assassin and warrior archetypes. Haven't done a mage yet.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Just want to post to confirm that, yes, followers can have spell immunity. I just gave my human follower complete immunity to fire and lightning via only 3 items, which means now I can blast fireballs wherever I like now. He didn't even mind or go hostile when I kept burning him.

This is going to be handy. Fireball and Chain lightning here I come! (And after I get and disenchant the Shield of Solitude, I would be able to give him complete immunity to all spells.)

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Just want to post to confirm that, yes, followers can have spell immunity. I just gave my human follower complete immunity to fire and lightning via only 3 items, which means now I can blast fireballs wherever I like now. He didn't even mind or go hostile when I kept burning him.

This is going to be handy. Fireball and Chain lightning here I come! (And after I get and disenchant the Shield of Solitude, I would be able to give him complete immunity to all spells.)

But is there a way to make them immune to arrows? I had to stop using a follower after they kept running into the path of my arrows to fight that oh so scary draurg (sp?) that I would've killed with a single arrow anyway.

[Paranoid Android]

I find that part of the fun, to make sure not to hit my followers. I wish there's a mod that makes followers immune to friendly aoe magic. I can't have any mage followers because they start spamming aoes and my other followers start trying to kill him and I can't stop them from killing each other

^ Except that D: That's just bullllllll shyt.

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Just want to post to confirm that, yes, followers can have spell immunity. I just gave my human follower complete immunity to fire and lightning via only 3 items, which means now I can blast fireballs wherever I like now. He didn't even mind or go hostile when I kept burning him.

This is going to be handy. Fireball and Chain lightning here I come! (And after I get and disenchant the Shield of Solitude, I would be able to give him complete immunity to all spells.)

Wait, you can give them spell immunity through enchantments? O:

... OMG... but I wonder what that mage follower that I want uses, she casts these things that look like tornados. @__@

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Paranoid Android

Wait, you can give them spell immunity through enchantments? O:

... OMG... but I wonder what that mage follower that I want uses, she casts these things that look like tornados. @__@

Most likely the level 3 ice spell. Unless you talk about the lightning/storm elemental?

But yeah, followers do NOT have a magic resistance cap. So you can make them immune to spells. Note that unless you disenchant the shield of solitude, it is much easier to just give them immunity to specific elements.

You can give magic resistance only with rings, amulets and shields. But you can give single elemental resistance via boots as well. Keep in mind that if you give them resistance via a shield, and they switch to a bow mid-combat, that resistance wouldn't count. The shield would only offer resistance when the follower is actually equipped with it.

If your follower doesn't use a shield for some reason, then you really need to think about double-stacking magic resistance via the Solitude disenchantment.

By the way, I am taking about doing all this without the fortify restoration potion exploit. Just regular maxed enchantment skills and Alchemy skills.

[Paranoid Android]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Most likely the level 3 ice spell. Unless you talk about the lightning/storm elemental?

But yeah, followers do NOT have a magic resistance cap. So you can make them immune to spells. Note that unless you disenchant the shield of solitude, it is much easier to just give them immunity to specific elements.

You can give magic resistance only with rings, amulets and shields. But you can give single elemental resistance via boots as well. Keep in mind that if you give them resistance via a shield, and they switch to a bow mid-combat, that resistance wouldn't count. The shield would only offer resistance when the follower is actually equipped with it.

If your follower doesn't use a shield for some reason, then you really need to think about double-stacking magic resistance via the Solitude disenchantment.

By the way, I am taking about doing all this without the fortify restoration potion exploit. Just regular maxed enchantment skills and Alchemy skills.

Oh thanks so much

I use UFO mod and have a party of followers. Always wanted a mage but couldn't cause our mage always AoE's our team (including killing me in 1 hit, I've learned to stay out of the way). If I could give my team immunity (I didn't enchant any of my followers' gears) to whatever the mage casts, my followers would stop getting aggro-ed.

[DuoRanger]

Originally Posted by Paranoid Android

Oh thanks so much

I use UFO mod and have a party of followers. Always wanted a mage but couldn't cause our mage always AoE's our team (including killing me in 1 hit, I've learned to stay out of the way). If I could give my team immunity (I didn't enchant any of my followers' gears) to whatever the mage casts, my followers would stop getting aggro-ed.

get Aranea, she loves to spam thunderbolt spells or chain lighting, if dont marcurio

the good thing is that aranea has a better prescision with ice storm than (fuck you and this party)illia

my older party was Farkas(1h weapons + shield of Ysgramor/Spellbreaker), Lydia(with wuurthrad), Leona(Bows and dual wield) and Aranea(spamming lightning)

now im alone with leona, to do the DB quests and Winterhold

[Paranoid Android]

Originally Posted by DuoRanger

get Aranea, she loves to spam thunderbolt spells or chain lighting, if dont marcurio

the good thing is that aranea has a better prescision with ice storm than (fuck you and this party)illia

Marcurio party aoe's as well. Yeah I really wanted to have Illia because she wipes the floor with anything that breathes. Don't know of an Aranea but I'll look that up via uesp.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Paranoid Android

Don't know of an Aranea but I'll look that up via uesp.

The problem with her, is that you had to give up having the Black Star.

Not a problem with me personally, as I am just unwilling to betray Azura, for old times sake. But many other people seem to can't live without it.

[synaesthetic]

The Black Star is awesome, saved me so much hassle.

[Anh_Minh]

Don't have that much use for the Star. I just have a lot of Soul Gems. They're not that hard to find or heavy.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Don't have that much use for the Star. I just have a lot of Soul Gems. They're not that hard to find or heavy.

Yeah. The ironic thing about trying to level enchantment/Alchemy, is that you end up with lots of expensive junk that you have trouble selling. Sure, you could invest in Speech perks, but who does that? So what happens is that in order to get rid of useless $2000 potions, I end up buying filled soul gems from general stores.

I also end up drowning in ebony ingots for the same reason. After reaching 100 Alchemy, the potions I got rid of gave me so much cash, I bought a house in Solitude.

At some point, I decided that it is more convenient to buy soul gems than filling them myself. They are just not as rare as past games. The weird thing is, Mammoths are so inconvenient to soul trap, that I only ever bother to do it once. All the other grand souls I bought in bulk from merchants.

[DuoRanger]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Yeah. The ironic thing about trying to level enchantment/Alchemy, is that you end up with lots of expensive junk that you have trouble selling. Sure, you could invest in Speech perks, but who does that? So what happens is that in order to get rid of useless $2000 potions, I end up buying filled soul gems from general stores.

I also end up drowning in ebony ingots for the same reason. After reaching 100 Alchemy, the potions I got rid of gave me so much cash, I bought a house in Solitude.

At some point, I decided that it is more convenient to buy soul gems than filling them myself. They are just not as rare as past games. The weird thing is, Mammoths are so inconvenient to soul trap, that I only ever bother to do it once. All the other grand souls I bought in bulk from merchants.

that why im lvling archery + sneak now, mammoths die before they know what hit them

[Vexx]

So far, the archery mod (Deadly Archery - which combines 3 mods) has been fun.... perks up playing an archer but doesn't unbalance the game. My archer can still get blasted by mages and had better be doing something swordish in close combat... but now its no longer "I have 3 arrows in my head and I'm getting annoyed at you" but "Hey! That really hurt!"

Happy...

[Paranoid Android]

Yeah the only soul gems i use is grand and casting soul trap is so much of a hassle. And the soul trap enchant is a waste of space. I end up just buying all my gems.

I use anything for refills but usually just grand soul gems.

Dragon Soul -> Perk mod is awesome. 10 dragon souls sold for 1 perk. My dragon souls were so damn useless before Dx

[GDB]

I've never used a soul trap enchant nor spell. I just used the abilities to have it auto work on conjured weapons and... what is it, ebony? Draedric? Dragon? Either way, I went from conjured to something stronger, and then to whatever the final one is that has the talent for auto-soul trap. When I need to fill my Black Star, I just trudge over to a bandit camp, snipe one, and go on my merry way.