Take followers or go solo?

[Carlos3lance]

Hey there. So I'm curious as to how many people actually take followers in Skyrim? Particularly less sneaky, head on warrior types, on say, adept difficulty.

At first, I took Lydia with me, and it was actually a welcome change of scenery(rather than trekking the wilderness alone). But then it felt like the experience of the game and the kill cams were cut in half - she hacked up everything in sight, barely leaving any for me

I personally like taking my time, landing well planned shots to get that brutal kill camera, but, it seems, followers just scrap that prospect.

 

[Exelex]

I never use followers. I prefer my Worm Thralls over followers.

 

[T1d3]

I prefer to go solo, followers only hinder me IMO

 

[Belle]

Solo for me, my characters are usually stealth orientated, so if I'm sneaking and suddenly Lydia says 'I am your sword and your shield', it seems a bit unlikely xD So, no followers for me.

I'll make an exception for Cicero though.

 

[El Fonz0]

I take followers because I like having people to protect me, and so the battles are quicker. Though, I'm a bit of a hypocrite when I say I hate it when they steal my kills.

 

[Annageckos]

I rarely take a follower with me. I summon a dremora if I need extra help. The only thing followers are good for is carrying stuff.

 

[TheDovahkiin]

I rarely take a follower with me. I summon a dremora if I need extra help. The only thing followers are good for is carrying stuff.

Yeah, after all, they ARE sworn to carry our burdens.

 

[Dagmar]

Unfortunately they're limited scripting makes them a hindrance for stealth combat even when they have good stealth stats because they tend to abandon stealth once enemies become aggressive. They also have pathing issues. They've apparently fixed the bugged leveling of followers though and followers can be great fighting allies in open combat if you know how to work with them and keep their equipment upgraded.

I use followers a lot. I like the company, it's an added dimension managing their equipment, they offer you extra carrying capacity, and they can help you get out of some rough combat situations depending on what kind of restrictions you play under. It's also nice for developing character relationships for roleplaying.

 

[The Phoenician]

I mix it up. Sometimes I go solo sometimes its nice to have a pack mule / decoy

 

[Rainbow]

Depends. I tend to go solo, but if I'm feeling particularly lonely I grab someone. I'm not a stealth person, so no problem there. I like to hang out with Marcurio, I love his dialogue

 

[andrew9300]

I tend to use followers mostly. I like the storage capabilities they have and the extra help in fights. Lydia tends to get on my nerves a lot when she is blocking doors or passageways, so I have to use unrelenting force on her. I don't use followers for the Dark Brotherhood missions since you have to sneak and try to kill in silence.

 

[DovahCap]

I usually keep a well equipped ranged follower somewhere, getting him to follow me when I want to clear out a particularly dangerous quest dungeon, or kill a boss dragon.

 

[raven63]

I always role with derkethus he is a very good archer I treat him like artillery long ways attack while I rush up front great tactics

 

[Failed Reaper]

Unless the quest sends a follower with me, I usually go solo. Simply because followers tend to get in my freaking way...so annoying

 

[andrew9300]

Hey there. So I'm curious as to how many people actually take followers in Skyrim? Particularly less sneaky, head on warrior types, on say, adept difficulty.

At first, I took Lydia with me, and it was actually a welcome change of scenery(rather than trekking the wilderness alone). But then it felt like the experience of the game and the kill cams were cut in half - she hacked up everything in sight, barely leaving any for me

I personally like taking my time, landing well planned shots to get that brutal kill camera, but, it seems, followers just scrap that prospect.

I take Lydia all the time, but I get most the kill cams. She is about to die half the time

 

[zane]

Gotta say I'm a fan of both. I'll travel on my own sometimes when I'm looking for some me time, otherwise I get a little lonely out on the roads alone, so I get Serana to come with me. A Hulking Werewolf warrior and his Vampire Majesty (female version of lord?) magic shooting partner all across the lands of skyrim.

Besides, she's great to have when I'm out gathering ingredients for alchemy. She'll start throwing ice spikes to people who're sneaking up on me while my focus is on the ground and in the waters lol.

 

[mamali]

if you want to play on Adept or harder , you need a follower . I always take a companion with my self

 

[Unit7]

I prefer to go solo. I like that added challenge of knowing that all the enemies nearby will focus right on me. Though I have had Serana tag along but mostly when it's Dawnguard quest stuff. I think I might actually miss her once I finish that up.

Followers really suck when trying to keep up. Their pathfinding is... well problematic. I mean here I am jumping off a rather small ledge and look back only to see my follower, on the rare occassions I bring them, running off towards the 'correct' way to get down here. Because I rarely follow the roads and will often take detours I am often miles ahead while my follower tries to find their own way to navigate the terrain.

So when I might actually come into a fight they are not usually around. When they do show up the fighting is mostly done.

In caves and old ruins it's better. Sometimes it can be really useful having a follower. I recently went to retrieve something for the Dawnguard in Lost Echo Cave. I was rather happy to have Serana with me. Them damned Falmor. Though I did go back to a previous save just to see if I could solo it. I can. But it was useful having her with me the first time around to get the lay of the land... of course I also discovered that the cave might actually be bigger then what the quest required... yeah.

I will usually allow a follower if it's optional for a quest. Was doing the whole Aetherium quest thing. Well the first cave anyways. I decided to let the ghost chick help me out. Which is good because I may never have noticed Zephyr.

 

[Dust651]

I always use J'zargo as a follower. Nothing can beat two powerful wizards.

 

[ShadowGambit]

Depends on the character I'm playing.

My sneaky assassin goes solo. Even the Dark Brotherhood Initiate AI is messed up when it comes to sneaking, as Dagmar pointed out.

For my Necromancer, I like to go with Eola and my 2 Thralls Summoner. that way I have a small army with me. That character doesn't need to be discreet so the "sneak" trouble with follower doesn't play. The scripted path can be tricky in confine space though, mostly when you have 7 characters going around.