Lydia (Skyrim)

"I am your sword and your shield."

- Lydia

 is a housecarl obtained upon completion of the quest Dragon Rising in. She receives the title of Housecarl from Jarl Balgruuf the Greater in Dragonsreach immediately after the Dragonborn is promoted to the title of Thane. As Housecarl, she is sworn to protect the Dragonborn with her life, and to carry his or her burdens.

Follower
Just like other followers, Lydia can die if she does not get the opportunity to heal herself when knocked down. This can happen if she is hit by enemies or if the Dragonborn damages her.

If the Dragonborn and Lydia part ways, she returns to Dragonsreach, or to Breezehome in Whiterun if it is purchased. If enough time was spent with her, she gifts the Dragonborn with an item upon reuniting with her.

Lydia, like most followers, has the option of being recruited into The Blades by being brought to Delphine at Sky Haven Temple after the quest Alduin's Wall is completed. She can still be recruited as a follower, but her default Steel apparel will be replaced with a full set of Blades Armor and a Blades sword. This change is permanent.

Marriage
Before Patch 1.5, it was only possible to marry Lydia though console commands. If the player does marry her, then she opens a shop in town and gives the player 100 Septims per day. She can be asked to move to a different house, if the player owns another house other than Breezehome. Like all the other candidates for marriage, she will cook the player a Homecooked Meal once a day that regenerates Stamina, Health, and Magicka.

Combat Behavior and Skills
Lydia is primarily a melee-type character and uses no spells. As with some other melee-oriented followers, she has tendency to simply rush into combat, possibly leading to her death.

She can use spell scrolls and staves, although other forms of magic are beyond her ability, potions and food if available, and favors Heavy Armor and One-Handed weapons, but will use any equipment if it beats the current base armor or damage rating.

She also has very low Sneak skill, alerting enemies of her presence nearly immediately, which may disable lower sneak players but may prove as an advantage for players with a higher sneak level, allowing the Dragonborn to lure enemies using Lydia. Although her Sneak skill isn't high enough to have the perk to do this, she can sometimes be seen doing a roll (when the Dragonborn is crouching) in order to catch up to the player.

Armor and Jewelry
Lydia's default armor is steel armor (the version without pauldrons), boots, gauntlets, and shield. Her default equipment provides a total armor rating of 169. She does not wear a helmet by default, but can equip any if given one. She can also wear any ring or necklace given to her by the Dragonborn, which can be useful due to the added effects these items may have. She can equip armor given to her, if its armor rating surpasses that of her default equipment. She can and will wear light armor, but her high Heavy Armor skill makes it difficult without a high Smithing skill or high-end armor, or the "equipitem" console command. The steel armor appears in her loot if she is killed. It should be noted that, similar to other followers, the Dragonborn may dismiss her, pickpocket her to remove her default gear using the Perfect Touch Pickpocket perk and or marry her so that she opens a shop then the player can buy her default clothes therefore forcing her to wear alternative gear.

Weapons
She only uses a shield if the best melee weapon in her inventory is One-Handed, otherwise she uses a Two-Handed weapon that the player gives her. Lydia's default weapon is a steel sword. If her sword is removed or if opponents are out of melee range, she uses a Hunting Bow, with an infinite supply of what appear to be iron arrows (the arrows cannot be collected by the player). Similar to her melee weapon and armor, she can be given stronger arrows and a stronger bow, which she will always use instead.

Her initial steel sword is a regular item and can be taken away from her. Her boots, gauntlets and shield are not shown in the inventory swap, but can be stolen away with Pickpocket, so that she is not burdened by their weight. Her bow is more problematic, as it does not show up in the pickpocket menu. However, this is a minor issue, as it is light and she defaults to a better one easily.

Reception
For an NPC, Lydia is a very popular character in the Elder Scrolls community, She is considered the unofficial "Poster Girl" of the series, by fans. She is arguably the most used follower in the game by the players, mainly because she is the first companion the Dragonborn encounters.

Quotes

 * “I am sworn to carry your burdens.” (unenthusiastic voice) — When asked to trade items.
 * “A healing spell? Are you a priest?” — When healed by Healing Hands or Heal Other.
 * “I am your sword and your shield.” — When approached or passed by.
 * “Long life to you, Thane.” — When approached or passed by.
 * “Honor to you, my Thane.” — When approached or passed by.
 * “I am sworn to protect you.” — When approached or passed by.
 * "Honored to see you, my thane" — When approached or passed by.
 * “As you wish my Thane.” — When asked to do something.
 * “I have a bad feeling about this.” — When entering certain areas in cave or ruin.
 * “Is that one of the old ruins?” — When entering certain areas in cave or ruin.
 * “I have never seen anything quite like that.” — When approaching large, and often spectacular, areas.
 * “Oh!" and "Huh?” — When the Dragonborn "pushes" her, urging her to move.
 * “What's the hurry?” — When the Dragonborn sprints into\past her.
 * “Hey, look, a cave. I wonder what's inside.” — When approaching cave entrances.
 * “Look over there, that's a Dwemer ruin.” — When near a Dwemer Ruin.
 * “You will die this day, dragon!” — When fighting a dragon.
 * “Slay it! Slay the dragon!” — When fighting a dragon.
 * "Stupid dog" — When left in a room with a dog.
 * "You stupid excuse for a Nord!"— When fighting Nordic bandits
 * "Ahh don't do that!"— When hit with a Calm Spell
 * "Skyrim belongs to the Nords!" — When fighting
 * "Damn You!" - When damaged.
 * "I've never been more ready!" — When hit with a Courage spell.
 * "We heading out?" — When approached while waiting

With, Lydia has been updated with a set of quotes unique to her, making her much more expressive than before. She may comment on various locations in both Skyrim and Solstheim.

Appearances


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