Poll: Lydia... (skyrim)

[Tay051173096]

Playing throught skyrim for a second time and I am playing as a stealth archer, One problem.

Lydia keeps running towards the enemy when they are close.

When I played as an breton summoner that was fine, as a stealther she can be a nightmare...

Should I just leave her at home or is there a way that she will stop getting herself killed, with me shortly afterwards?

Don't even ask about the companion quest proving honor...

 

[JET1971]

there is a wait here function. keep her with you but leave her outside. If you collect more loot than you can carry run outside and give here some burdens to carry then go back in and collect more. She wont be getting you killed when she is at the door just standing there.

 

[DustyDrB]

Followers are pretty annoying in the game. They get in your way in combat, give away your location when you're sneaking, and repeat their lines ad nauseam. My favorite follower out of the eight or nine I picked up was Erandur. He's probably the most fleshed out follower in the game due to his quest being linked to a Daedric quest (and he's central to it, unlike the follower you can get from Azura). But even he started to annoy me with his repeated lines ("I left my friends to die in Nightcaller Temple. I'll never forgive myself for that" over and over in every single dungeon). That's a problem with every follower, I just have his memorized because I used him the most.

Also, do not tell a follower to wait when you're in a place you're not supposed to be. A lot of them will glitch out so you can't speak to them like you normally would. That Khajit warrior got stuck in a building I went in during the Thieves' Guild quest line. I had to hit him several times to get him to leave the building, then I had to re-recruit him.

 

[rod_hynes]

Why limit our options. She isn't special, or strong. If you don't 'lose' her on purpose lol she will die eventually. Why not get someone stronger.

 

[nokori3byo]

It's true that all followers are potentially annoying obtsacles in combat, but some are less problematic than others. Farkas, for example, will often get incapped in the midst of heavy fighting but always seems to recover. Compare with Lydia who frequentls winds up dead as dead if you fall afould of the wrong Dragon Priest. Not sure if this failing is pecualiar to Lydia as I have so far only used her, Farkas, and the "sword maiden" you get as housecarl in Solitude. the last of these seems surprisingly durable.

Also, the advice given above about making followers wait at the entrance is sound. usually the big treasure haul comes in the final area of a dungeon, so even if you wind up overburdened you can often take a "door to before" back to the entrance and unload your stuff on your willing packhorse there.

 

[DRes82]

Lydia is only good as a loot hauler. I equipped her in full legendary Ebony armor and a legendary paralyzing ebony greatsword, and she still got her ass kicked regularly.

For your combat companion needs, I present to you the most badass mage in Skyrim...

This mf'er takes on whole packs of Falmer Shadowmasters and even a damned Dwemer Centurion Master SOLO and in Apprentice Robes.

Also, he prefers lightning spells. I think he's secretly a sith kitty.

 

[megapenguinx]

I really hate all the followers in Skyrim. At least in Fallout 3 they were more durable and didn't get in the way. More often than not, it's I that deals the killing blow to them. Strongly tempted just to equip them with a bow and arrow and take away everything else. That might help a bit.

 

[tobi the good boy]

I offer you an alternative...

 

[crepesack]

Terrible. When you use destruction magic all they do is get in the way and die a fiery death at your hands. I prefer just traveling light and bringing lydia along only when I'm dungeon diving, not on boss fights.

 

[Black Arrow Officer]

I fus-roh-dah'd her off of the throat of the world, like most of my other followers. I hate them so much. They get in my way, set off traps, repeat dialogue endlessly and are absolute hell as a magic user, as they love to soak up your spells and waste your Magicka.

 

[Soluncreed]

I offer you an alternative...

What enchantment is on that?

 

[Pandabearparade]

J'zargo, baby. Best follower in the game.

Leave the housecarls to guard your houses.

 

[White_Lama]

On my bigass Nord warrior Leif she's at home.

On my evil thief/assassin Moh'faz she's dead.

On my Thalmor-cleansing Dark Elf Elenthrir she's in fully enchanted Ebony armor + weapons and IF she dies, I reload.

 

[Jennacide]

I offer you an alternative...

What enchantment is on that?

I'd wager Soul Trap, judging from purple aura.

If you're going stealth, take a character that supports it like Janessa or Faendal, Lydia is a warrior and will always try to charge in.

 

[Suicida1 Midget]

Shes my pack mule. But do the recent trips to riften (not the theives guild, she just kept taking arrows to the knee) i decked her out in legendary dragon armors for the sake of my sh*t.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

Cicero. Sweet Cicero...

 

[tobi the good boy]

I offer you an alternative...

What enchantment is on that?

I'd wager Soul Trap, judging from purple aura.

If you're going stealth, take a character that supports it like Janessa or Faendal, Lydia is a warrior and will always try to charge in.

Indeed It was soul trap, She's such a faithful Housecarl, looking over the home even after ... the 'accident'.

 

[Vrex360]

My playstyle doesn't require much stealth so I never had a problem on that front, truthfully I just like having Lydia around. Every hero needs a faithful companion and I figure she's pretty good on that front, plus she hasn't died on me yet and is pretty good with a bow and axe.
At least in my personal experience.

That said, I tend to not bring her on more important giant scale missions, she's a travelling companion, not a war comrade.

 

[Nazulu]

Like the first reply you recieved, you can just tell 'em to "wait here" and then she won't be in the way (unless she's always in the way).

I find the game to easy to have followers, and even then they are bloody annoying, even the summons. I just wished they would keep up with me when I run.

 

[Wolfram23]

The only reason she "isn't strong" is because you aquire her at a low level, and the companion leveling is broken. On PC if you just disable her then enable her again via console, she gains all the hp and stats she is otherwise missing. Then she's a total beast. I watched her more or less solo 2 giants and 3 mammoths lol.

Proof: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/594704438487588367/0A45C71DFDCE47D76F6269857D14206D68A0B037/
(note: I'm a mage and was trying to gain souls with my bound bow... of course I have 0 archery skills so I did very, very little dmg)

However I just started a new character, an archer/sneak type. I'm going solo with this one.