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This blog documents some of my thoughts on the various followers in Skyrim. Marcurio first, since he's my favourite. The rest are in alphabetical order. Each character has a bit of a blurb about my experiences with them, and then some Benefits and Cons in having them as a Follower.

This Blog will be updated with Followers as I use them, so I encourage you to come back every now and then to read about new reviews. Feel free to add requests for me to review your favourite Follower below.

🙃

Best Follower Based on Playstyle[]

This is my suggestions for the best Follower, depending on your character/playstyle...

Your Character Type/Playstyle Best Follower
Melee Marcurio Marcurio
Ranged (Magic or Archery) Borgakh the Steel Heart Borghak the steel heart
Stealth Jenassa
Jenassa
Imperial Legion Adelaisa Vendicci Adelaisa Vendicci
Stormcloak Erik the Slayer TESV Erik the Slayer
Dawnguard
Werewolf
Vampire


Marcurio[]

Marcurio

I almost always use Marcurio as my follower of choice. I adore him! 😍

  • I love his sassy dialogue
  • He dishes out huge amounts of damage which means that I can take on harder enemies than I possibly should be 😈
  • (most importantly, he doesn't get in the way and thus is in danger of being killed with back swing (SO important for melee characters) 😍

His down-sides include:

  • Less XP for your character: every character he kills is XP you're not getting. It's not so much of a big deal with other Followers, since they don't dish out the damage that he does
  • Kill stealing: more than any other companion I've seen
  • Blasting enemies off cliffs/bridges (how am I supposed to loot the body now?)
  • Friendly Fire: he likes to use Chain Lightning and to throw Fireballs, which means you can be damaged by area effect damage. If you like to use horses and/or non-human followers like Dogs, you'd best have a Calm spell ready to go least your horse/dog starts to attack Marcurio because they got zapped/burned, and then he defends himself, and then you have a dead horse/dog and you're reloading the game and having to fight the battle again... 😉

Summary: Great follower for any melee/warrior character, or for a Mage that wants additional elemental firepower for dealing with undead, or ice/fire monsters.

Benor[]

TESV Benor

Soooo not a fan. He served a purpose when I was level 5, since all I needed to do to recruit him was to beat him in a fist-fight (easier since I already had the Gloves of the Pugilist ). Is this where I mention how creepy it is to get a follower because I beat them in a fist-fight? Punching someone in the face doesn't seem like a healthy way to build a relationship.

My feelings about him are probably coloured by him just not being right for the character I was playing. I was playing a Melee character, so having him step in between my character and the character I was fighting and then complaining when I attacked him by accident came across as misogynistic (dude, I was fighting this guy. Back off!) and super annoying.

Give him some Steel Plate Amour from Maven Black-Briar's Homestead while you're getting Frost.

Benefits

  • Free (though you need 100 Septims to engage in the fight with him)
  • Good for a Mage/Archer character that wants a tank that will be a magnet for enemies

Cons

  • Kill stealer
  • Gets in the way of melee attacks
  • Complains about trespassing (can't access his inventory/give instructions)

Summary:


Borgakh the Steel Heart[]

Borghak the steel heart

Wonderful tank! She comes with a phantom full set of Steel Plate Armor, but she looks amazing in a set of Orcish Armour so get her into that as soon as you can.

Benefits

  • Hardy fighter. Give her a good sword and board and she'll keep one or more enemies busy without going down anytime soon
  • Simple dialogue menu and vocal responses
  • If you give her a staff, she'll put it to good use

Cons

  • There is a shrillness to her voice that is grating after a time

Summary: So far, she's my favourite Tank. 😍


Cosnach[]

Cosnach

There is nothing really remarkable about this guy. If there are things that followers do that annoy you, he does them, and there's nothing much that he brings to the table to offset the generic annoyances.

Benefits

Cons

Summary: If you somehow end up in Markarth and you don't have a follower, he's a free pack mule that can carry every piece of Dweamer Bowl and Scrap Metal that isn't nailed down, until you can get someone better.

Erik the Slayer [Remastered][]

TESV Erik the Slayer

Within a short amount of time this guy has become one of my favourite followers. I love his dialogue, and he's one of the most versatile Followers I've ever used, but this may be because I'm using him while playing the Remastered version of Skyrim. "Watch this space" and I will update this with whether his behaviour is unique to Erik of if all Followers do this now.

Pros...

  • Great dialogue. Charming/delightful and not annoying
  • For Stormcloak players, he will regularly shout, "Skyrim is for Nords", when entering combat
  • As mentioned above, he is one of the most versatile Followers I've used yet
    • If you give him a bow, he will use it and stay out of the way when combat begins
    • If you want him to tank, don't give him a Bow/Staff
    • If you want him to hang back and use magic, give him staves

Cons...

  • If you're not a Nord, he will regularly shout, "Skyrim is for Nords", when entering combat

Summary: Erik is quite probably the best Follower for a devoted Stormcloak character.  😍

Ghorbash the Iron Hand[]

Ghorbash the Iron Hand

This guy is a free companion that you can find in Dushnikh Yal south of Markarth. Well, he's free once you're able to enter the Stronghold. So free for Orc PCs, and free once other PCs have done the work to gain entry.

Pros...

  • He come with ghost Steel Armor in his default kit, so he is hardier than other warriors that come in light armour as their default
  • He has exactly the same dialogue (words wise) as Borgakh the Steel Heart, except that it's in his deep, gruff voice.

Cons...

Summary:

Jenassa[]

Jenassa

If you're a stealth character, Jenassa is for you.

  • Uses bows as a preference until enemies get close, where upon she'll switch to melee
  • Won't break your sneaking
  • She has a crush on your PC, it's quite adorable - so long as you're not playing an Orc or an Argonian 😉

Cons... She's a Dunmer, so if you're playing a stereotype of your race, you may decide to look her over due to racial prejudices She doesn't dish out as much damage as Marcurio, but no one does, so I can hardly hold that against her.

Summary: If you're playing a stealth character and you don't have Dawnguard, she's the follower for you! If you do have Dawnguard, Janessa will do right by you until you get Serana.

Uthgerd the Unbroken[]

Uthgerd the Unbroken

She comes with Steel Plate Armor, so she can be tough to beat in a fist fight, depending on what level you are when you try.

  • Voiced by Claudia Christian, so Babylon 5 fans will love her

Cons...

  • She has a few lines of unique dialogue that stay behind after you've asked about them and while she's a follower, which bloats out her follower dialogue options and can be a little irritating when you're trying to get the dialogue you actually want (do this, carry this)
  • Like all melee followers, she will move in front of you while you're attacking an enemy and then complain that you hit her

Summary: her default Steel Plate armour makes her pretty hardy


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