Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-10555401-20130701075751/@comment-10781165-20130701183604

My top 3 are Nocturnal, Molag Bol, and Azura. Nocturnal for the nightingale powers and the skeleton key, even if it is only temporary. Molag Bol's mace is an excellent weapon and one can get it reasonably early. Along with Azura's Star/Black Star, which is always useful, the mace can be used to level enchanting as well.

Meridia just annoys me with her otherworldly rants and I always seem to find her beacon incredibly early in my playthroughs, usually around levels 3-6.