Best follower gear.

[Nighthiker77]

Just looking for some thoughts and opinions, what are some of the best in-game(no crafting skill required) items for followers? Considering that followers won't utilize a lot of enchantments that would otherwise be good for the player.

A few I like off the top of my head

Windshear - I wasn't sure, but i gave it up and sure enough Aetia was b*tch staggering a frost dragon with it. I didn't watch close enough yet to see how much stamina she wasted, but it is still put to good use.

Predators Grace/any muffled boots

Shield of Solitude - fortify block wasted but good resist magic.

Savior's Hide

Ebony Mail for muffled heavy

Helm of Yngol

 

[Ysmir]

Wait till your a high level and find Daedric/ Dragon (if you have Dawnguard) and hope they have Fire/Frost/Shock/Magic resist.

 

[Nighthiker77]

Good call. I added the shield of solitude, ebony mail, and Savior's hide

 

[Majir-Dar]

Depends: My Mages- Master Robes (or whatever robes I can get them)
My Warriors- Dragon Bone or Dragon Scale
My Sneaks- Oh wait... I don't use sneaky followers.

 

[Nighthiker77]

Does the magica regen make a difference? I haven't used any mage followers for very long, mostly rangers or tanks.

 

[ColleenG]

I equip my followers better than I equip myself. I tend to use mage followers. I give them every staff on the planet. Useful staffs include: paralysis, ice storm, wall of fire/shock/ice; wabbajack; any reanimating staff, any daedra staff. Staff of fear/calm. I've never seen a mage follower accept enchanted robes. They like heavy armor. The Ebony Mail is their favorite, until you get daedric. Test your equipment on them--they always pick the best to wear and use. And what they CARRY while not in battle is NOT what they use IN battle. Marcurio likes to carry the heaviest two-handed weapon I can find. I indulge him.

 

[Nighthiker77]

On pc you can just set their default apparel to none and they will equip anything to not be naked.

 

[ColleenG]

On pc you can just set their default apparel to none and they will equip anything to not be naked.

Marcurio loves being naked. I'm uploading a pic of this pretty soon.

 

[Nighthiker77]

Has anybody tried the Aethereal Crown on a follower? That would be awesome if it worked, heavy armor follower with the Steed stone that can keep up and carry way more stuff.

 

[Dagmar]

Does the magica regen make a difference? I haven't used any mage followers for very long, mostly rangers or tanks.

It works if that's what you mean. I'd rather give them Fortify Magicka. Magicka regeneration is based on a percentage of total max Magicka so increasing Magicka also increases Magicka regeneration.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

Depends on the follwer. If it's Aela, the Lioness, Mercurio or Erik the Slayer - a bow or big sword and their underwear works for me.

 

[Nighthiker77]

It works if that's what you mean. I'd rather give them Fortify Magicka. Magicka regeneration is based on a percentage of total max Magicka so increasing Magicka also increases Magicka regeneration.

I mean more from an behavioral standpoint. Their health always appeared to regen by a different mechanic(or maybe just a lot faster). So would a follower in master robes cast more at all, more high level spells, or the same mix of spells at a higher frequency?

 

[shadowkitty]

My Serana has sort of glitched out and is refusing to carry anything. I have given her Chillrend and a circlet of fortify magic, and everything else I took off her she wont take back. She won't even take a single soul gem. Only carry weight I have to rely on is my own. And she is wearing her own vampire armour.
This happened after she came back from being cured. Maybe she is weak as now and can't carry my crap..lol.

 

[BigBad]

I usually tend to give my followers hand-me-down gear from my PC. Whenever I hit another smithing/enchanting perk that lets me upgrade my custom gear, I put whatever I was using on my follower. Lydia is almost always wearing heavy armor one step down the perk tree from me. I prefer defensive enchantments like Resist Element/Magic, Fortify Heavy Armor, Fortify Health, etc.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Just a few.

Dragon Priest Masks - Otar , Rahgot , Morokei
Royal Vampire Armor
Mage`s Circlet
Ahzidal`s Ring of Arcana(follower needs 25 skill in Destruction)
Robes of Resurgence
All items of Recovery and Renewal
All items of Grounding , Firewalker , and Warmth
All items of Peerless Health , Stamina , and Magicka
Weapons of the Vampire or Subsuming
Dwarven Black Bow of Fate
Nightingale Armor

 

[Adam Warlock]

The most significant item for followers imho is Ahzidal`s Ring of Arcana.

Not only can you add a couple of powerful and cheap spells to your mages but you can convert some followers who do not already cast destruction magic into mostly fire-based Spellswords without the use of a staff or soul gems for recharging.

As a Spellsword , Ralis Sedarys will get the best use out of the ring because he has a good pool of Magicka as well as Augmented Flames and Impact perks.

Belrand and Valdimar(who only has Ice Spike) will also use the ring and they already have the Magicka to do it well.

Erandur , Athis , and Jenassa will all cast Ignite and Freeze but do so more effectively if you give them extra Magicka on their gear.

All followers seem to prefer Ignite over Freeze except when fighting opponents with a high resistance to fire.

The only mage follower who I couldn`t get to use the ring is J`zargo but I wasn`t able to test Eola.

 

[LotusEater]

If and when I need a follower, I grab essential NPC's and give them jack s**t.