Lydia (Skyrim)

Lydia is a Nord housecarl obtained upon completion of the quest Dragon Rising. She receives the title of Housecarl from 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 their 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. If Breezehome in Whiterun is owned, she will return there instead. If enough time was spent with her, she may gift the Dragonborn with a radiant 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 through console commands. If the Dragonborn does marry her, then she opens a shop in town and gives the Dragonborn 100 per day. She can be asked to move to a different house, if a house other than Breezehome is owned. Like all the other candidates for marriage, she will cook a Homecooked Meal once a day that regenerates Stamina, Health, and Magicka. She can only be married once Breezehome has been purchased.

"Is that an amulet of Mara? I'm surprised someone like you isn't spoken for."
 * Interested in me, are you? "Well, yes. Why wouldn't I be? Are you...interested in me?"
 * Yes. Yes I am. "It's settled then. As brief as life can be in Skyrim, at least we'll have each other."
 * No, I'm not. "Oh. I'm sorry I said anything then."

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, potions and food if available, and favors Heavy Armor and One-Handed weapons, but will use any equipment if it bests the current base armor or damage rating.

She also has very low Sneak skill, alerting enemies of her presence nearly immediately. This may cause problems if the Dragonborn has low Sneak skill, but may prove as an advantage if the Dragonborn has a higher Sneak level, since it allows 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.

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.

It should be noted that, similar to other followers, there are multiple options to change her gear. She may be dismissed then pickpocketed to remove her default gear using the Perfect Touch Pickpocket perk. Alternatively, she may be married so that she opens a shop — this then allows the Dragonborn to buy her default clothes, which forces 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. 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 iron arrows, though these arrows cannot be taken from her inventory. Similar to her melee weapon and armor, she can be given stronger arrows and a stronger bow, which she will use instead.

Dialogue
"The Jarl has appointed me to be your housecarl. It's an honor to serve you."
 * I'm a Thane? What does that mean? "The Jarl has recognised you as a person of great importance in the hold. A hero. The title of Thane is an honor, a gift for your service. Guards will know to look the other way, if you let them know who you are."
 * What does a housecarl do? "As my Thane, I'm sworn to your service. I'll guard you, and all you own, with my life."

"Good day."

As a follower
"I'm right behind you."
 * Follow me. I need your help. "Lead the way."
 * Wait here. "As you wish, my Thane."
 * Follow me. "As you will, my Thane. I will protect you with my life."
 * I need you to do something. "All right. What is it?"
 * I need to trade some things with you. "I am at your command."
 * It's time for us to part ways. "I'll head back home if you need me."

"Lead on."

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.

Trivia

 * Oddly enough, if Lydia does not have a helmet, she chooses enchanted mage's robes in her inventory over any other type of armor, which lends to some roleplaying situations but offers little to no practical combat advantage. If she has a helmet in her inventory, she will then equip that and remove the robes.
 * If Lydia dies, a courier will approach the Dragonborn whenever they get to town and give them money left for the Dragonborn in Lydia's will. The amount will normally be 300 gold, but it will be 400 if they are married. In either case, a tax of 30 gold will be kept by the Jarl's court.
 * Lydia is one of many followers that tends to stand in front of a doorway when the Dragonborn walks into a small room. Unrelenting Force can be used to push her out of the way. Alternatively, sprinting into her will stagger her back. The Dragonborn can also order her to wait somewhere else through dialogue commands.
 * The Dragonborn can give Lydia a single arrow of the best type they can find, then she will use an infinite supply of those arrows. However, it is recommended to give her at least two of them and removing any other type, since Lydia tends to use equipment worse than the best available.
 * Lydia will not follow over rough or steep terrain. She will instead take an easier path around and catch up. This could result in her not being seen her for several minutes or her attracting danger to herself. Since Lydia is not a very adept swimmer, it will be easier to keep her close if the Dragonborn uses bridges or close islands when crossing water. If a destination is reached, waiting may bring her back. Also, entering any door will cause her to reappear.
 * If the Dragonborn sides with the Stormcloaks during the Battle for Whiterun, Lydia will fight by their side against the Whiterun guards. After the battle, she will still regard the Dragonborn as Thane, even if the title has not been restored by the new Jarl.
 * She is voiced by Colleen Delany, the same voice actress as Ria and Mephala, as well as all female Bosmer Bandits, also known as "FemaleEvenTone" according to Creation Kit
 * Lydia is the only housecarl that is introduced by name when she is assigned to the Dragonborn, and also the only one to be even mentioned by the Jarl when the player is made Thane. All the others simply come with the title and don't get any official recognition whatsoever. This is most likely due to Lydia usually being the first housecarl the player acquires, so she serves as some sort of basic tutorial for this game feature.
 * Since the release of, the Dragonborn now has the option to turn her into a vampire if she is their spouse. This can only happen if the Dragonborn sides with the vampires.
 * If she is given a better bow than her default bow, the arrows in the inventory will be limited. To help her with ranged combat, the choice is to either give her a better bow and have her use her default iron arrows or to simply give her a better arrow to infinitely use with her default bow.
 * If she is recruited to the Blades, Hrongar may send hired thugs after the Dragonborn, though this happens rarely.
 * Lydia's dialogue differs slightly depending on the Dragonborn's race.
 * If the Dragonborn owns a house but tries to move into Lydia's house, nothing will happen because she doesn't own a home.

Appearances


Lydia Lydia Лидия Lydia Lydia