Followers (Skyrim)

For other instances of this mechanic, see Follower.

Followers are various characters found throughout Skyrim. They can travel with, battle for, perform tasks for, and carry items for the Dragonborn.

A subclass of followers is non-humanoid followers such as dogs and Armored Trolls. (Armored Trolls are only found in The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard when the Dawnguard has been joined.) These followers can neither carry nor equip items. The interaction with these followers is limited to the wait/follow commands and dismissal.

It is only possible to have one humanoid follower at a time unless additional followers are gained via a quest. In most cases, there is no penalty for dismissing a follower and then re-recruiting the follower later.

Followers specialize in a variety of Skills ranging from Combat, Magic, Stealth, Smithing, Speech, Alchemy, and Enchanting. However, skills outside of Combat, Magic, and Stealth cannot be directly benefited from.

Certain followers can also serve as Skill Trainers. Many followers can marry and a few can join the Blades after being relocated to Sky Haven Temple.

Leveling

Followers will match the current level of one's Character, up to a certain level cap that varies from follower to follower. The vast majority of followers cap at level 30. Roggi Knot-Beard and Sven notably cap at level 20.

All recruitable members of The Companions who are not part of The Circle, as well as Adelaisa Vendicci, cap at level 25. Mjoll the Lioness, Illia, and all hireable Mercenaries (including Erik the Slayer) cap at level 40. Also, in the Dawnguard add-on, Beleval and Agmaer cap at 25.

Erandur, the members of The Circle (Aela, Farkas, and Vilkas), and all Housecarls cap at level 50. In Dawnguard, Serana caps at level 50. The followers who, before patch 1.9, would level with the Dragonborn to 81, after the patch have no level cap and will continue to level with the player. They include J'zargo and the Dark Brotherhood Initiate, and with The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard and The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn, the followers Celann, Ingjard, and Durak, along with Frea, are added, respectively, with no level cap.

If patch 1.6 or later is not installed, followers, along with all other levelable characters, are locked at the level at which they first encountered the Dragonborn, and will not continue to level up. The only way to fix this leveling error is to use console commands on the PC ("disable" then "enable" the character while they are not active followers) or use the Wabbajack to turn them into an animal, then rehire them when they change back. This resets their stats to the Dragonborn's current level and also does not appear to reset their inventory or quest scripting, although one must take an item from their inventory and put it back to get them to re-equip any non-default equipment they may have. However, it has no effect if they are currently following the Dragonborn. Essential characters cannot be transformed, and one can therefore not reset their stats without using console commands.

There are a couple very specific occasions in which certain followers will level up due to scripted events in quests. For example, Farkas will level up to the Dragonborn's current level in the quest Proving Honor after his scripted transformation. Likewise, Aela will level up after her transformation in The Silver Hand. This is because the game de-spawns Farkas/Aela and replaces them with a transformed version, then re-spawns them later, which is the same process that occurs when manually using the console to "disable" then "enable" a character. Similarly, Erik the Slayer and Cicero "level up" after the first encounter with them, as the version met during the first encounter is actually a different character version than the version that can become a follower.

Targeting a follower and typing "setlevel 1000 0 1 81" will make that follower level up with one's character until they reach level 81. Replacing the last number in that command with a number other than 81 will change their level cap to the given number.

It is notable that followers with a lower level cap, such as Jenassa, have more stats (Health, Magicka, and Stamina) and skill points (One Handed, Sneak, etc.) per level than other followers with a higher level cap such as Aela the Huntress or even followers with no level cap such as Frea or Ingjard. As such, it is wise to have a similar follower with a lower level cap, such as Jenassa, up until they reach their level cap, then trade for a similar follower with a higher level cap, such as Aela, to be more effective.

Combat

Morale varies from Follower to Follower. Some, like the Housecarls, will always fight to the death, while others, like Roggi Knot-Beard, will often flee from combat if seriously injured.

All Followers favor two-handed weapons over one-handed weapons, even if they are unskilled in two-handed weapon usage. Therefore, letting followers whose primary combat skill is one-handed weapons have two-handed weapons in their inventory should be avoided. Additionally, followers appear to favor magic staves over melee weapons and will default to using a magic staff if given one, only switching to a melee weapon after spending several seconds in close combat.

Most non-magic-using followers have a bow as part of their default, non-removable equipment. This bow shoots an endless supply of arrows of a default type, which are not visible in the follower's inventory. To have a follower shoot more powerful arrows, a single arrow of that type should be put in their inventory.  This will allow them to loose an endless supply of that arrow type. Followers will automatically choose the most powerful arrow type available in their inventory.

Followers can dual-wield melee weapons, but only if there is no shield in their inventory, and only if a Forsworn sword, Forsworn axe, or a pickaxe is wielded along with another melee weapon (the Housecarl of Falkreath, Rayya, can dual wield scimitars). They will also dual-wield magic staves, regardless of whatever else is in their inventory.

If the Dragonborn enters sneak mode, humanoid followers will follow suit. While in sneak mode, they will not attack unless attacked first. Non-humanoid followers, e.g. dogs such as Meeko, Vigilance, or the Stray Dogs, however, do not understand the concept of "stealth" and will charge straight at an enemy as soon as they see one, even if the Dragonborn is in sneak mode.

Death

Fortunately for followers, enemies will tend to ignore them once their health is depleted and turn their attention to the Dragonborn or any other allied characters. This condition is easily spotted, as the follower will drop to one knee and stay in that position for a short period of time.

Once they have regenerated a sufficient amount of health, they will stand and rejoin the fight. This does not mean that they cannot die by physical attacks from characters. In some cases, especially when left no other target, enemies will continue to attack a follower until death. Additionally, in that near-death state, a follower is not in danger of being killed outright unless hit by an attack from the Dragonborn or another follower. Extremely powerful attacks, especially area-of-effect attacks such as those from a Dragon, can also kill a follower. Many times, followers tend to get in the line-of-fire of an arrow or a spell produced by the Dragonborn causing them to die, even if it was unintentional.

Some followers are marked essential, specifically Mjoll the Lioness, Derkeethus, Serana, Cicero, and Dark Brotherhood Initiates. They cannot be killed by any means--should their health be depleted, they will fall to the ground, but get up after a minute or so. This makes them especially valuable as distractions for difficult battles.

It is important to remember that enemies using poison can kill followers, since the poison continues its effect even after the follower drops to its knee. Caution is advised if encountering high level Falmer, Chaurus, poisoned traps, etc.

To avoid follower death in this scenario, the best course of action is to lead attackers away from the area where the follower is trying to recover. Followers may also be given several healing potions or Potions of Cure Poison to carry in their inventory, which they will automatically use if the need arises. In some cases, the best course of action may be to tell a follower to wait before entering a particularly dangerous area.

Other ways followers can die include:

• Traps, such as the swinging blade hallways in dungeons or spinning floor blades in Dwemer ruins.
• Falling from a great height.
• Being hit by an enemy while the Dragonborn is speaking with them.

Followers can be revived using the console command resurrect. Console commands are only available in the PC version.

Commands

A player giving Follower Commands to a Follower called Lydia

Permanent followers can be given several commands.

Initiate conversation (outside of combat), and tell them I have something I want you to do. The Dragonborn may also hold down the "select/activate" button while pointing at the follower. This method can be done at a distance and is a great way to call the follower to the Dragonborn's position while they're in their "wait" mode.

They can:

• Attack another individual or creature.
• Wait at a given location, or just simply wait.
• Use an object.
• Open a locked door or container.
• Pick up individual items or take everything from containers.
• Sleep in a bed.
• Sit on chairs and benches, although they will, unless told to wait, usually stand back up.
• Activate a shrine to receive its blessing.
• Perform jobs such as wood chopping, excluding mining.
• Leave the Dragonborn's service.
• Pickpocket: The Dragonborn must remain undetected.

There are some additional benefits from using certain commands. These are:

• Followers can pick up skill books that the Dragonborn may not want to read just yet. These can be safely taken from their inventory and read at a later date.
• Followers will illuminate dark areas with a torch, provided there is one in their inventory.
• Followers do not require lockpicks to pick locks.
• As a vampire, ordering a follower to sleep will allow the Dragonborn to feed off them

If told to wait, a follower will wait for about 3 days before they get tired and leave the Dragonborn. They will then return to their home or the location where they were originally found.

Morality

Every follower has their own level of morality. Certain followers, such as Farkas, are lawful citizens and will report the Dragonborn to the guards if they witness a crime. Other followers, such as Jenassa, will readily commit any crime they are ordered to do and will ignore any criminal behavior by the Dragonborn. Some will report the Dragonborn for a serious crime, such as murder, but not for a petty crime. Kharjo, Aela, Lydia, Marcurio, Derkeethus and Benor will not have any possible interactions while trespassing, saying only "You‘re not supposed to be in here" when spoken to. They will still fight for the Dragonborn, however.

If not hidden, the Dragonborn will be held responsible if a follower is asked to perform an illegal activity.

Equipment and inventory

Mjoll the Lioness, in Ebony Armor with a Steel Plate Helmet, a Dwarven Shield and Grimsever.

Followers always equip the best possible weapons or armor given to them. More specifically, the weapon with the highest damage value and the pieces of apparel with the highest armor value are equipped.

Followers will not use equipment that is the same in armor or damage value as their starting equipment unless it has been improved using smithing or enchantments.

On occasion, a follower may equip a weapon that they are not skilled in over one they are. For example, Mjoll the Lioness is better skilled in Two-Handed weapons over One-Handed, but if given a sword with a higher damage rating than a battleaxe, she will equip the sword.

Each follower tends to have their own preference of armor. For example, Aela has no preference and will use heavy armor if she receives it, even though she is a marksman whose default armor is light. The Dark Brotherhood Initiate, however, strongly opposes the use of heavy armor unless it is significantly better than her current armor. This is because the initiate prefers light armor, matching her skills.

If a follower insists on using an undesirable piece of equipment, the only way to prevent this behavior is to remove it from their inventory.

Ironically, the default equipment of many Followers does not correspond to their actual combat skills. For example, Aela's default armor is Heavy Armor, despite her being skilled in Light Armor, and Erik the Slayer's default equipment is Iron Armor and a one-handed sword, despite the fact he's actually skilled in two-handed weapons and light armor.

Inventory

Followers can be used to carry almost any item, either via the inventory menu or picking up world items. However, they also have a weight limit which restricts how much they can carry. In the inventory menu, items that would overencumber them appear greyed out.

An exploit is possible to make them carry over their limit. First place the items in any container and then order the follower to take everything in the container. After this, every single item will be in the follower's inventory. However, these items will be marked as stolen. If these items are dropped and picked up again in plain sight, it will be considered a crime.  Alternatively, entering a new area will remove the "stolen" label.

An alternative exploit is to drop the items on the ground and instruct the follower to pick up each item one at a time. While potentially time consuming, it is a handy method when containers are not present or handy.

Followers will retain their inventories even after the Dragonborn dismisses them. In this way, it is possible to use them for limited storage. If they are killed, the stored items can be looted off the body.

Ammunition

If a follower is using their own default bow, placing just a single arrow in a follower's inventory will give them an infinite supply of that type of arrow. 

Note: Enemies may also exhibit this behavior: Shooting an enemy with an arrow more powerful than their own arrows has a small chance of adding that arrow to their inventory, allowing them to equip the more powerful arrow and return fire with an infinite supply.

Effect dismissing has on equipment

If the Dragonborn sends their follower away, i.e. dismisses them, and later decides to recruit him/her again, the Dragonborn might find the follower wearing their original equipment. The Dragonborn can fix this by either leaving the area or by simply taking away any piece of equipment from them, which will in turn "reset" them, causing them to equip their best available equipment. If the Dragonborn chooses to “reset” their follower, he/she will use new/better equipment again.

Multiple followers

Followers are said to be limited to one at a time, but there are several ways to avoid this limit. Quest characters triggered to follow the Dragonborn, the Dark Brotherhood Initiates, Serana and summoning more than one Atronach. For more information, see Multiple Followers. Theoretically, a player with all DLCs can have a maximum of 15 followers at one time, though this can be undesirable in cramped spaces such as dungeons.

It is also possible to use the spell/power gained through the Dark Brotherhood questline for an additional follower. The Spectral Assassin will stay by the Dragonborn's side until it is defeated in battle or another familiar/atronach is summoned. It will travel with the Dragonborn across Skyrim.

Followers

Housecarls

Housecarls are essentially bodyguards who protect nobility and important people from threats. Becoming the Thane of a Hold will grant a personal housecarl. In the base game almost all available housecarls are Nord warriors, however The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire adds additional housecarls for The Pale, Falkreath and Hjaalmarch. All Housecarls have a level cap of 50.

All Housecarls are one-handed warriors with the exception of Valdimar, who is a sorcerer. A Housecarl's main skills are heavy armor, one-handed, archery and block, with the exception being Valdimar (heavy armor, one-handed, alteration, destruction and restoration).

Name	Location	Prerequisite	Race	Marriage	Blades	Steward
Argis the Bulwark	Vlindrel Hall, Markarth	Thane of Markarth	Nord	Yes	Yes	No
Calder	Hjerim, Windhelm	Thane of Eastmarch	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gregor HF	The White Hall, Dawnstar	Thane of The Pale	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Iona	Honeyside, Riften	Thane of The Rift	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Jordis the Sword-Maiden	Proudspire Manor, Solitude	Thane of Haafingar	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lydia	Breezehome, Whiterun	Thane of Whiterun	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rayya HF	Jarl's Longhouse, Falkreath	Thane of Falkreath	Redguard	Yes	Yes	Yes
Valdimar HF	Highmoon Hall, Morthal	Thane of Hjaalmarch	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes

Faction followers

Completing certain quests for a faction will grant access to some followers from that faction.

College of Winterhold

Name	Max level	Class	Location	Quest	Race	Marriage	Blades	Steward
Brelyna Maryon	30	Mage	Hall of Attainment	Brelyna's Practice	Dunmer	Yes	Yes	Yes
J'zargo	None	Mage	Hall of Attainment	J'zargo's Experiment	Khajiit	No	Yes	No
Onmund	30	Mage	Hall of Attainment	Onmund's Request	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes

The Companions

Name	Max level	Class	Location	Quest	Race	Marriage	Blades	Steward
Aela the Huntress	50	Ranger	Jorrvaskr	Glory of the Dead	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Athis	25	Warrior-1H	Jorrvaskr	Glory of the Dead	Dunmer	Yes	Yes	No
Farkas	50	Blacksmith	Jorrvaskr	Glory of the Dead	Nord	Yes	Yes	No
Njada Stonearm	25	Warrior	Jorrvaskr	Glory of the Dead	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ria	25	Warrior-1H	Jorrvaskr	Glory of the Dead	Imperial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Torvar	25	Warrior-1H	Jorrvaskr	Glory of the Dead	Nord	Yes	Yes	No
Vilkas	50	Warrior-2H	Jorrvaskr	Glory of the Dead	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes

Dark Brotherhood

Name	Level max	Class	Location	Quest	Race	Marriage	Blades	Steward
Cicero	50	Assassin	Dawnstar Sanctuary	Hail Sithis!	Imperial	No	No	No
Dark Brotherhood Initiate	None	Assassin	Dawnstar Sanctuary	Hail Sithis!	Nord	No	No	No

Dawnguard

Having The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard installed adds several more followers, both humanoid and non-humanoid, to the game. Most are dependent on which faction the Dragonborn decides to side with during the Bloodline quest, thus A New Order needs to be completed.

Name	Level max	Class	Location	Race	Marriage	Blades	Steward
Ingjard	None	Warrior-2H	Fort Dawnguard	Nord	No	Yes	Yes
Durak	None	Ranger	Fort Dawnguard	Orsimer	No	Yes	Yes
Agmaer	25	Bandit	Fort Dawnguard	Nord	No	Yes	Yes
Beleval	25	Bandit	Fort Dawnguard	Bosmer	No	Yes	Yes
Celann	None	Warrior-1H	Fort Dawnguard	Breton	No	Yes	Yes

Mercenaries

Mercenaries are typically found in taverns across Skyrim. They cost 500 to hire for any length of time. Dismissing a mercenary will send them back to the tavern they were found. Mercenaries reach their maximum level at 40.

Name	Class	Location	Race	Marriage	Blades	Steward
Belrand	Spellsword	The Winking Skeever, Solitude	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Erik the Slayer	Barbarian	Rorikstead	Nord	No	Yes	Yes
Jenassa	Ranger	The Drunken Huntsman, Whiterun	Dunmer	Yes	Yes	No
Marcurio	Mage	Bee and Barb, Riften	Imperial	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stenvar	Warrior-2H	Candlehearth Hall, Windhelm	Nord	Yes	Yes	No
Teldryn Sero DB	Spellsword	The Retching Netch, Raven Rock	Dunmer	No	Yes	No
Vorstag	Warrior-1H	Silver-Blood Inn, Markarth	Nord	Yes	Yes	No

Quest reward followers

These followers typically have a quest attached to them and it must be completed in order to gain them as a follower.

Name	Max Level	Class	Location	Prerequisite	Race	Marriage	Blades	Steward
Adelaisa Vendicci	25	Citizen	East Empire Company	Rise in the East	Imperial	No	Yes	Yes
Ahtar	30	Warrior-2H	Castle Dour	Kill the Bandit Leader	Redguard	No	Yes	No
Annekke Crag-Jumper	30	Ranger	Darkwater Crossing	Kill the Bandit Leader	Nord	No	Yes	Yes
Aranea Ienith	30	Mage	Shrine of Azura	Side with her during The Black Star	Dunmer	No	Yes	No
Eola	30	Nightblade	Hall of the Dead, Markarth	Help her in The Taste of Death	Breton	No	Yes	Yes
Erandur	50	Priest	Windpeak Inn, Dawnstar	Help him in Waking Nightmare	Dunmer	No	Yes	No
Faendal	30	Thief	Riverwood	Help him in Love Triangle	Bosmer	No	Yes	Yes
Frea DB	None	Warrior-1H	Skaal Village	The Fate of the Skaal	Nord	No	Yes	No
Golldir	30	Warrior-1H	Hillgrund's Tomb	Help him in Ancestral Worship	Nord	No	Yes	Yes
Illia	40	Mage	Darklight Tower	Help her in Repentance	Imperial	No	Yes	Yes
Kharjo	30	Warrior	Ahkari's Khajiit Caravan	Retrieve his Moon Amulet	Khajiit	No	Yes	No
Lob	30	Warrior-1H	Largashbur	The Cursed Tribe	Orc	No	Yes	Yes
Mjoll the Lioness	40	Warrior-2H	Riften	Retrieve Grimsever	Nord	Yes	Yes	No
Ogol	30	Warrior-1H	Largashbur	The Cursed Tribe	Orc	No	Yes	Yes
Ralis Sedarys DB	60	Rogue(1H)	Kolbjorn Barrow	Spare him at the end of Unearthed	Dunmer	No	Yes	No
Roggi Knot-Beard	20	Miner	Kynesgrove	Find Roggi Knot-Beard's Ancestral Shield	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Serana DG	50	Vampire	Fort Dawnguard Castle Volkihar	Kindred Judgment	Nord	No	No	No
Sven	20	Bard	Riverwood	Help him in Love Triangle	Nord	No	Yes	Yes
Talvas Fathryon DB	25	Conjurer	Tel Mithryn	From the Ashes	Dunmer	?	Yes	Yes
Ugor	30	Ranger	Largashbur	The Cursed Tribe	Orc	No	Yes	No

Miscellaneous followers

These followers have no specific quest attached to them. Gaining them as a follower may sometimes be a trivial affair, such as Brawling against them and winning the match. Their levels cap at 30.

Name	Class	Location	Prerequisite	Race	Marriage	Blades	Steward
Benor	Warrior-2H	Morthal	Beat him in a brawl	Nord	Yes	Yes	No
Borgakh the Steel Heart	Warrior-1H	Mor Khazgur	Pay her dowry or persuade her	Orc	Yes	Yes	No
Cosnach	Warrior-1H	Silver-Blood Inn, Markarth	Beat him in a brawl or give him a drink	Breton	Yes	Yes	No
Derkeethus	Ranger	Darkwater Pass	Free him from captivity	Argonian	Yes	Yes	No
Ghorbash the Iron Hand	Ranger	Dushnikh Yal	Convince him to travel with the Dragonborn	Orc	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uthgerd the Unbroken	Warrior-1H	The Bannered Mare, Whiterun	Beat her in a brawl	Nord	Yes	Yes	Yes

Non-humanoid

Non-humanoid followers can be used alongside any humanoid follower, which means that the Dragonborn can have one human and one non-human follower simultaneously. Most non-humanoid followers cannot be given items and thus cannot use equipment, the exception being Riekling.

Name	Type	Location	Preresquisite
Armored Troll DG	Troll	Fort Dawnguard	A New Order, 500
Barbas†	Dog	Outside Falkreath	Begin Speak to Lod
Bran DG	Armored War Dog	Fort Dawnguard	A New Order
CuSith DG	Death Hound	Castle Volkihar	The Bloodstone Chalice
Garmr DG	Death Hound	Castle Volkihar	The Bloodstone Chalice
Meeko	Dog	Wandering near Meeko's Shack	None
Riekling DB	Riekling	Thirsk Mead Hall	The Chief of Thirsk Hall
Sceolang DG	Armored War Dog	Fort Dawnguard	A New Order
Steadfast Dwarven Sphere DB	Dwarven Sphere	Kagrumez	During The Kagrumez Trials
Steadfast Dwarven Spider DB	Dwarven Spider	Kagrumez	During The Kagrumez Trials
Stray Dog	Dog	Random location/With hunters
Shadowmere	Horse	Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary	Begin The Cure for Madness
Vigilance	Dog	Markarth Stables	500

† Barbas does not count as a true follower since he is tied to his quest, but unlike other quest forced companions, (e.g., Farkas), the Dragonborn's current animal follower will not be dismissed.

Trainer followers

Some potential followers are also Trainers who can train the Dragonborn in particular combat skills, allowing him or her to increase the skill level for those skills. The training is not free, but once these trainers become the Dragonborn's followers, he or she may may receive training without any permanent cost; If the Dragonborn asks a follower to train him or her in a particular skill, after receiving the training, he or she may access the trainer's inventory and recover the spent gold. The following followers are also trainers: (Note: All but Faendal and Talvas Fathryon are Companions who require the Dragonborn to complete the Companions quest line before they become recruitable as followers.)

• Aela the Huntress, Archery expert trainer (trains to level 75)
• Athis, One-Handed expert trainer (trains to level 75)
• Faendal, Archery adept trainer (trains to level 50)
• Farkas, Heavy Armor master trainer (trains to level 90)
• Njada Stonearm, Block expert trainer (trains to level 75)
• Vilkas, Two-Handed master trainer (trains to level 90)
• Talvas Fathryon, Conjuration master trainer (trains to level 90)

Trivia

• Followers can be ordered to take all the contents of a container, even if they would not be able to hold the equivalent weight; however, the items taken will be marked as stolen. This means follower can hold an infinite number of items. This exploit cannot be used to sell goods at vendors, even if the vendor typically buys stolen goods. The only items merchants will buy are those the Dragonborn have equipped at the time.
• If one of the mercenaries is married before paying, it's possible to get their services for free.
• Almost every humanoid follower with the exception of Cicero, Serana and the Dark Brotherhood Initiates can be recruited into the Blades and will be given a free set of Blades Armor and a Blades Sword. Up to 3 followers can be recruited by speaking to Delphine at Sky Haven Temple. After followers have been initiated as Blades, they will no longer return to their home or starting location, instead taking up residence at Sky Haven Temple (with the exception of Derkeethus, as he is bugged to stay at his home). The free set of Blades Armor will replace the follower's current armor, even armor given to the follower. This makes it impossible to get the items back. Higher level weapons, however, will still be chosen by the follower over their new Blades weapon.
• If the Dragonborn starts the quest Alduin's Wall and lets Esbern and Delphine follow him/her to the objective, he or she effectively gains two extra human followers who cannot die permanently, as long as the quest is not actually completed.
  • If this is combined with the conjuration perk Twin Souls, a traditional follower and an animal follower, the total number of creatures following and fighting for the Dragonborn can be brought up to six. This can, however, make it difficult at times to backtrack through doors and passages.
    • With 90 skill in Conjuration, reanimation of two conjurers/summoners who then summon an additional two minions, the unique mount Shadowmere, Delphine, Esbern, a minion that can be summoned by Esbern, a regular Follower, a Dark Brotherhood Initiate and an animal Follower brings the number of followers up to a total of 10, and even 11 if one regular follower is a mage who can conjure a familiar, or if a follower is given a staff of summoning, for example, the Sanguine Rose. If the Dragonborn chooses not to complete A Daedra's Best Friend and keep Barbas and Mercer Frey, he or she could potentially have 15 followers.
• If the quest Arniel's Endeavor is completed, the Dragonborn will be able to summon Arniel's Shade along with their regular conjured familiar(s), and increase the total number of followers by one.
• Some followers will give the Dragonborn the key to their house, which will allow the looting of the entire place without stealing or killing the follower.
• Certain quests may require the follower to leave the Dragonborn's service. The follower will then leave with any items he received. To regain the follower, meet them where they were originally found. If they are a hireling, they will most likely ask for another 500 gold depending on how much time has passed or whether they're particularly fond of the Dragonborn.
• If the follower gets any kind of arrow, it can be duplicated if the follower attacks someone. (Followers will pick up arrows.)
• Occasionally, a mage follower will equip armor or clothes that is equal to their current robes (or one that has a better enchantment). This will occasionally happen if the Dragonborn waits, fast-travels, enters a building, or sleeps. But the easiest way to make the mage follower equip other robes or clothing, is by entering Apocrypha. When the Dragonborn leaves Apocrypha, the mage follower should be wearing the desirable armor they were given. (The above was tested on Talvas Fathryon, Brelyna Maryon, and Marcurio)
• Followers, Dead Thralls, and Animal followers cannot follow the Dragonborn into a Dark Brotherhood sanctuary unless it's either Cicero or a Dark Brotherhood initiate that's following the Dragonborn. This also includes particular quests in the game where the follower will not enter the location the Dragonborn entered, such as Snow Veil Sanctum.
• There are only two known Khajiit and Redguard followers, one Argonian follower, and no documented Altmer followers.

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Followers (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following: Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

Click to show a list of bugs.

PS3   Some items that are given to a follower and then taken back are classed as stolen. Some followers are glitched in such a way that they will not use any bow other than their default bow, regardless of the quality of any bow the Dragonborn might provide them with. Some will only use a bow made using heavy armor materials i.e. Dwarven, ebony, Daedric. Others will only use a bow bow made out of light armor materials i.e. glass, or Elven. Armor type seems to dictate bow type. This bug is less frequent in the Dragonborn add-on With the Dawnguard DLC installed, a follower will equip a Dragonbone Bow most of the time Followers can be commanded to pick up items off the ground or from unlocked container that would otherwise exceed their carry capacity and continue to move normally. In this way, followers can carry an infinite amount of loot. The infinite follower carrying exploit can glitch, and some followers after picking up an item will not equip a weapon when the Dragonborn does. This may occasionally fix itself. If not, the player must sift through the followers inventory and discard any unnecessary items. When a suitably equipped follower is soul-trapping, all the empty soul gems of the same size may be filled from a single kill. This does not happen every time. Followers can get stuck on terrain. In some cases it is possible to free them by using any knockback effect. It may be impossible to get to where the follower is stuck. In this case the console command TCL can be used to turn off collision and position the Dragonborn. Pressing the tilde (~) key will open the console, typing TCL, pressing the tilde key again will close the console. Reversing the process will turn collision back on.  PC   360   In some areas, when the Dragonborn goes through a door, his follower will spawn from a different door in the same area. Meaning, if there is more than one door to enter somewhere, the follower may enter from a different door than the Dragonborn. This can cause serious problems, especially due to the fact they can get into a fight.  PS3   If most followers are given Blades armor before Delphine makes the follower (if applicable) a member of the Blades, they will not receive any of the free Blades armor that usually replace their natural armors.  PC   PS3    At some random point, potential followers will say the Dragonborn is having someone with them if asked to follow, despite having no followers, no matter where they goe or how often a recent save is reloaded. This can be Fixed by talking to Delphine and making the invisible follower a Blade Member (Only works if three followers aren't Blades members already), even after making the follower a Blade, he/she is not going to be found in the Sky Haven Temple. Dismissing and rehiring Followers can result in their default starting equipment being added again every time they are rehired. Much of this equipment may not be displayed in their inventory. As a result, followers' carry capacity will diminish every time they are rehired since this default equipment has weight. The speed at which Followers will ultimately reach an effective zero carry capacity is affected by the weight of their starting equipment and the number of times they've been rehired. There seems to be a couple of ways to mitigate this bug if player does not have access to the in-game console commands (i.e. PS3, 360). If the followers are dissmissed, it is possible to pickpocket them and thus remove all the duplicate forms of equipment that have spawned in their inventory as a result of a bug. In some cases, however, even this will not display the cloned items. Therefore, it may be necessary to dismiss a follower then subsequently paralyze them with any method at one's disposal. Once this has been done they must be pickpocketed while the player is hidden, which should have the desired effect of displaying the aforementioned items. Furthermore it is possible to effectively remove anything they have equipped if the Dragonborn has the "misdirection" and "perfect touch" perks in pickpocketing. If a bounty is placed on the Dragonborn's head in every region of Skyrim, followers will keep coming up and talking to him over and over and over as if they were guards pulling him over. During this time, if they are asked to follow just before killing them, the Dragonborn will never be able to have another follower as the game thinks the dead follower is still following the Dragonborn. There are no known fixes. Followers of any kind can be often killed by Falmer power attacks and magic, so it might be a good idea to order them to wait before an intense fight. (Sure this isn't an accidental kill? Never had a follower die when that was not the case, even letting a large mob Draugr beat on them while Dovakhiin is hidden.)  360   If the "activate" key has been remapped to a button other than "A", followers will not listen to the Dragonborn's commands, they will just stand there. The way to fix this is by changing the "activate" key back to default. Sometimes, items given to the follower cannot be removed, displaying the message "you cannot take your follower's starting armour." The only known ways to recover the item(s) are to dismiss the follower then pickpocket them or kill the follower and loot their body. Most followers have unlimited arrows. If the Dragonborn gives them an stack of arrows, they will use all of them but the last. The last arrow always seems to be in their inventory. It does not work on all followers, however. Housecarls like seem to have an infinite supply, but other followers, like the Dark Brotherhood Initiate need to be re-supplied.  PS3   In Hearthfire, if an animal follower (like Vigilance) is made into a house pet, Dragonborn's family and others within their home may only respond to the pet as "stupid dog" and very frequently. Sometimes this becomes one of the only interactions of dialogue heard throughout Dragonborn's time in their home. Normally after each time the dog barks, which is quite often. At an extremely rare occurrence, Dragonborn cannot make anyone their follower. The text dialogue will pop up, but the option to ask them to be a follower will not be there. Fix: For PC: killing them and then resurrecting them using Console Command "resurrect". After resurrection, followers will start walking away. At this point, it should be possible to acquire them as a follower. Furthermore, they'll appear to have lost all items they were previously given, but simply after fast travelling, their items should be restored. At a very rare occurrence, if the player uses a command on a follower they will not do what they are commanded to and instead say "Anything else?" This will make it impossible to acquire certain objects due to lack of cooperation with the command phase. Followers may rarely have their movement animation stuck in the run "position", where they will move very slowly while their legs move very quickly. FIX: Drawing the Dragonborn's weapon will make their follower do the same, correcting their movement animation.

External links

• Follower Google Doc - For a full list of followers, their stats, advantages, and perks. Note: only includes humanoid followers from the base game. Followers found in Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn add-ons are not covered

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim