Vigilance is a canine companion that can be found around the Markarth stables. Once there, the Dragonborn will encounter a man by the name of Banning, who offers the option to purchase the dog for 500 
. It is also possible to ask a few questions about Vigilance. In Hearthfire, it is possible to make Vigilance a pet.
History
When talking to Banning, he mentions that he and his family have been training dogs for the Jarl and for his own use. He also refers to the dog as a "war-dog," and rightfully so as he is from a litter of dogs that were bred for combat and protection.
Combat
Vigilance is fast and agile, meaning he can track down enemies rather easily. However, he inflicts very low damage on enemies. He also has the tendency to dart towards an enemy, which can be an annoyance for those who prefer ranged combat. However, if the Dragonborn focuses on melee attacks, Vigilance can make a great distraction. Note that Vigilance has absolutely no armor rating and will go down rather fast to physical attacks.
Like every other companion, Vigilance changes stance when the Dragonborn draws their hands, weapons, or spells. Instead of drawing a weapon like other followers, though, Vigilance starts to snarl and lower his body, creating an intimidating look.
Vigilance will level with the Dragonborn up to level 50 where he will have 500 health, twice as much as Meeko and other stray dogs.
Stats
| Vigilance's Stats | |
|---|---|
| Level | 10 → 50 |
| Health | 100 → 500 |
| Magicka | 0 |
| Stamina | 65 → 265 |
| Unarmed Damage | 8 |
| Armor Rating | 0 |
Trivia
- Vigilance is similar to a mercenary, as he must be paid the 500
fee each time he is requested to rejoin the Dragonborn. - Vigilance has the highest level cap out of all of the dog followers, barring Barbas.
- If commanded to wait and then left for too long in one location, he will return to Banning.
- Like all non-humanoid followers, Vigilance does not understand the concept of "stealth" and will charge straight at an enemy as soon as he sees one, even if the Dragonborn is sneaking and has not been noticed yet.
- In Hearthfire, he can become a pet and stay at Dragonborn's home. With Vigilance as home pet, he can be asked to follow Dragonborn without having to pay the 500 .
Bugs
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This section contains bugs related to Vigilance. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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- If the dog can't be bought again from Banning, his body must be found and the console opened (~); with Vigilance's body targeted, use the command
resurrect. If his body cannot be found, Vigilance can also be resurrected by enteringResurrect 0009A7AB. He will be alive again, but he will not be a follower. To let him be a follower again, go to Markarth Stables and speak to Banning and buy the dog again. It is also possible to try usingsetessential 0009A7AAmaking him just stand, when health runs out. When the battle is over, he will resurrect with low health.- If Banning has been killed during the quest "The Taste of Death" then there is no possibility to buy the dog. His assistant, Cedran, will only sell the horse but not the dog.
- It has yet to be tested if resurrecting Banning via console commands will solve the problem. Fact is that his corpse vanishes when left rotting too long in Reachcliff Cave.
- Confirmed method to obtain Vigilance after Banning's demise in Reachcliff Cave: After wiping out the cannibals in the cave (if you choose to do so) and thus saving the priest's life, open the console and target Banning. Use the
resurrectcommand (Note: although the command will be saved, it will appear that nothing has happened). Return to the interior of Markarth Stables and use theplayer.placeatme 0009A7A8command to place Banning near the player. Purchase/ repurchase Vigilance. - If placing Banning near the Dragonborn while outside the stables, Banning may return to fighting as if still in the previous cave (including his spectral wolf with him) causing the guards to take them both out, meaning that the process to bring him back to the Dragonborn will have to be repeated. Be sure to place Banning close while inside the stable house, just to be safe.
- If the Dragonborn buys Vigilance in the early hours of dawn, when Vigilance has gone inside and Banning is about to go inside, then it appears that Vigilance is technically with the Dragonborn, but is nowhere to be heard or seen. He can then be "taken" to an adopted child (Hearthfire) who will accept Vigilance as a pet, but he is still missing. Banning will also claim that the Dragonborn already has an animal companion if the player tries to rebuy the dog.
- There also seems to be a glitch where if Vigilance waits too long (much less than the normal 72 hrs) and when returning to retrieve him it is possible to buy him but he won't remain a follower. He can't even be found. But when bought off of Banning again, he will say that there is already an animal follower. This also keeps you from acquiring any new animals in the future.
- PS3 In Hearthfire, if an animal follower (like Vigilance) is made into a house pet, your family and others within your home may only respond to your pet as "Stupid dog," and very frequently. Sometimes this becomes one of the only interactions of dialogue heard throughout your time in your home. Normally after each time the dog barks, which is quite often.
- Vigilance's health is locked when first met, even after using disable-enable commands.
- PC (Fix) One workaround is to force his health to 500 by using the console command
setav health 500or simply waiting until level 50 before entering the map cell outside the Markarth gates where he can be found. A solution to this is to use the Wabbajack on Vigilance, as certain hits will despawn then respawn him, scaling his level to that of the player character as long as it is level 50 or less.
- PC (Fix) One workaround is to force his health to 500 by using the console command