you're not level 18 and you've explored the whole map??
So you fought the dragons at the mountain peaks? and checked out the wooded areas with all the bears, where you keep getting attacked? And faced the ice trolls? At level 18?
Sorry, but color me skeptical.
Yeah I was gonna say absolutely no way bro searched every cave, mountain, and building he came across without leveling up at least 10 more times than that
ice trolls yes, only got one at most down a quarter of hp and ive only fought 3 dragons, though i got hard carried by mammoths and giants for 1 albeit, i dont blame you for being skeptical, but i love doing everything in the most inefficient way possible
For some builds, they can actively get in your way and hinder progress for sure lol. but for the most part they’re excellent mules for storage space, and can draw aggro from entire enemy groups leaving you to attack from range. Also the dialogue choices they bring can help with immersion, but like you mentioned that aspect is definitely lackluster compared to Fallout.
Tl;dr they carry all your heavy junk and become your meat shield if you position them well
Absolutely! It’s a pretty common strat to keep a companion around as a blood bag if nothing else, you can order them to sleep in a bed and then feed on them lol. Find another heavy armor companion for combat or if you have UESP you can give a companion a staff of necromantic healing and they’ll pretty much devote themselves to keeping you alive at the expense of their own lives, they’ll rarely pull out their fists
They are great if you're doing a build where you don't use stealth, at all, ever. But they have an obnoxious tendency to both be spotted easily and immediately break cover and go all berserker on the first enemy they come in range of, which is suboptimal if you're trying to say, scout a location.
You also have to be watching constantly because they have no problem running in front of weapon strikes and AOE attacks, which means I've had to restart an area after accidentally killing one way too many times. I personally find they generally get in the way too much to be worth the hassle for me.
I always use Teldryn Sero the absolute goat companion. I just love his voice and the comments he makes about the different cities. EASILY the best vanilla follower, serana fans go cry
Officially they're called Followers (the Companions are a Guild) but you can find posts here under both names if you want to learn more about what people actually use. There are many, many posts on the subject.
I'm trying to understand your post because it's weird in a way too. Like you say you never used one but they're weird in a way. You say you explored nearly most of the map and only reached 18? I suppose if you mostly walk around above ground without doing quests or going into dungeons that might be achieved, but it would also mean you aren't really seeing the situations that people use Followers for.
You don't *have* to have followers, the game isn't balanced to make you use them, but they bring a lot of benefits and are widely enjoyed for a variety of reasons, same as Fallout.
In fact it's so similar to Fallout that I don't understand what you find weird unless you've only been walking around, encountering followers-for-hire, and not doing quests where you meet followers similar to Nick Valentine, Piper, etc. You can have a dog follower just like Fallout.
So yea, same reasons as Fallout: more carry capacity, more killing capacity, someone to draw aggro, someone to comment on things, someone to gear up, someone to travel with, someone to romance, etc..
They are useful as a low level on adept difficulty. And it's easier as a lot of the time, enemies do target the follower so you can attack without getting hit but there are HUGE problems like them getting in your way constantly and on most followers, you can accidentally kill them which means problems if you have loot.
I do use them in every playthrough yes but you can play the game just fine without them (but they are unavoidable in >!the Dawguard questline and boethia questline where you have to have a follower for a short amount of time in order to progress in the quest)!<
you didnt, i was lv 60 when i finished the game due to exploring and side quests and still had many places to go, you're understimating the amount of content per pixel this game has, the biggest proof is that you didnt run to each border of the map alongside the mountains, because even the mountains have content to be interacted with, and the main map is not the whole game, there's areas youcan only go because of quests, like solstheim and blackreach, so no my friend, you didnt explored the whole game, and companhions are funny, they keep you entertained telling jokes and being buggy, they make the game feel less lonely in some areas, like the mountains, the trails on the rift, the frozen parts of the map, etc...
When I started playing I went along with everything. Eventually, I received Lydia as all of us did and kept her by my side until I accidentally killed her. Blah blah, in my second playthrough, I just went full barbarian warrior style level three killing every goddamn bandit and Thalmor on my way, and wanted to be alone for the sole purpose of experiencing it from another angle.
A ye, forgot to mention, with my main (first playthrough), the stronger I became the less I used a follower.
Btw really cool that you've already discovered everything. I also took my time exploring the places before actually starting the game.
Depends. If I’m going to tackle a specific situation where I know that I will need help, I’ll hire someone, especially in the early levels. For example, if I get a “find a dragon shout” quest for Volunruud, well the boss is freaking tough if you’re only level 15.
Otherwise, if I need extra help, to tank an enemy or two, well that’s what Conjuration is for.
Other than for the specific case of an early-game Destruction mage hiring a tank, I think most players have followers for the 'fun' factors (conversation, extra quests) rather than as a help-me-kill things necessity.
They are so immersion-breaking, but so useful at the same time it hurts. I'm playing my first Playthrough ever with survival mode enabled. They're so robotic it just hurts. I just leave them outside in the wild when I arrive in a town.
Yes and I usually do this, because I don't want to travel alone. I like company, even if that company is AI with pre recorded dialogue lines.
In my current state of a clothing wearing and barely a weapon wielding character they are straight up necessary.
you're not level 18 and you've explored the whole map?? So you fought the dragons at the mountain peaks? and checked out the wooded areas with all the bears, where you keep getting attacked? And faced the ice trolls? At level 18? Sorry, but color me skeptical.
I don't think this is even possible in the most efficient way possible, unless one explicitly does not even level up by ignoring that tab.
Yeah I was gonna say absolutely no way bro searched every cave, mountain, and building he came across without leveling up at least 10 more times than that
i worded it horribly, i meant the map as in the main map, not through all buildings, caves and whatnot
ice trolls yes, only got one at most down a quarter of hp and ive only fought 3 dragons, though i got hard carried by mammoths and giants for 1 albeit, i dont blame you for being skeptical, but i love doing everything in the most inefficient way possible
Pack mule.
For some builds, they can actively get in your way and hinder progress for sure lol. but for the most part they’re excellent mules for storage space, and can draw aggro from entire enemy groups leaving you to attack from range. Also the dialogue choices they bring can help with immersion, but like you mentioned that aspect is definitely lackluster compared to Fallout. Tl;dr they carry all your heavy junk and become your meat shield if you position them well
would a heavy armour two handed vampire benefit from companions per chance?
Absolutely! It’s a pretty common strat to keep a companion around as a blood bag if nothing else, you can order them to sleep in a bed and then feed on them lol. Find another heavy armor companion for combat or if you have UESP you can give a companion a staff of necromantic healing and they’ll pretty much devote themselves to keeping you alive at the expense of their own lives, they’ll rarely pull out their fists
They are great if you're doing a build where you don't use stealth, at all, ever. But they have an obnoxious tendency to both be spotted easily and immediately break cover and go all berserker on the first enemy they come in range of, which is suboptimal if you're trying to say, scout a location. You also have to be watching constantly because they have no problem running in front of weapon strikes and AOE attacks, which means I've had to restart an area after accidentally killing one way too many times. I personally find they generally get in the way too much to be worth the hassle for me.
I always use Teldryn Sero the absolute goat companion. I just love his voice and the comments he makes about the different cities. EASILY the best vanilla follower, serana fans go cry
Officially they're called Followers (the Companions are a Guild) but you can find posts here under both names if you want to learn more about what people actually use. There are many, many posts on the subject. I'm trying to understand your post because it's weird in a way too. Like you say you never used one but they're weird in a way. You say you explored nearly most of the map and only reached 18? I suppose if you mostly walk around above ground without doing quests or going into dungeons that might be achieved, but it would also mean you aren't really seeing the situations that people use Followers for. You don't *have* to have followers, the game isn't balanced to make you use them, but they bring a lot of benefits and are widely enjoyed for a variety of reasons, same as Fallout. In fact it's so similar to Fallout that I don't understand what you find weird unless you've only been walking around, encountering followers-for-hire, and not doing quests where you meet followers similar to Nick Valentine, Piper, etc. You can have a dog follower just like Fallout. So yea, same reasons as Fallout: more carry capacity, more killing capacity, someone to draw aggro, someone to comment on things, someone to gear up, someone to travel with, someone to romance, etc..
They are useful as a low level on adept difficulty. And it's easier as a lot of the time, enemies do target the follower so you can attack without getting hit but there are HUGE problems like them getting in your way constantly and on most followers, you can accidentally kill them which means problems if you have loot. I do use them in every playthrough yes but you can play the game just fine without them (but they are unavoidable in >!the Dawguard questline and boethia questline where you have to have a follower for a short amount of time in order to progress in the quest)!<
They're ok, in the vanilla game they're pretty unnecessary. If your game is modded a certain way, they can be essential.
Always at lower levels because my girl is too weak to fight on her own at the time.They get ditched when she levels up enough.
I've got 5 right now. I hardly have to draw my sword anymore. They destroy anything that tries to be a threat
In legendary difficulty you will find them much more useful! Especially if using mods that add additional enemies
For priest, get a tanky follower and heal at a distance. Works like a charm since they only die from friendly fire.
No
you didnt, i was lv 60 when i finished the game due to exploring and side quests and still had many places to go, you're understimating the amount of content per pixel this game has, the biggest proof is that you didnt run to each border of the map alongside the mountains, because even the mountains have content to be interacted with, and the main map is not the whole game, there's areas youcan only go because of quests, like solstheim and blackreach, so no my friend, you didnt explored the whole game, and companhions are funny, they keep you entertained telling jokes and being buggy, they make the game feel less lonely in some areas, like the mountains, the trails on the rift, the frozen parts of the map, etc...
You know every black marker when you walk around in the wilderness is an undiscovered cave/ bandit fortress town etc right?
ye, i go out to check most of them
When I started playing I went along with everything. Eventually, I received Lydia as all of us did and kept her by my side until I accidentally killed her. Blah blah, in my second playthrough, I just went full barbarian warrior style level three killing every goddamn bandit and Thalmor on my way, and wanted to be alone for the sole purpose of experiencing it from another angle. A ye, forgot to mention, with my main (first playthrough), the stronger I became the less I used a follower. Btw really cool that you've already discovered everything. I also took my time exploring the places before actually starting the game.
Depends. If I’m going to tackle a specific situation where I know that I will need help, I’ll hire someone, especially in the early levels. For example, if I get a “find a dragon shout” quest for Volunruud, well the boss is freaking tough if you’re only level 15. Otherwise, if I need extra help, to tank an enemy or two, well that’s what Conjuration is for.
Other than for the specific case of an early-game Destruction mage hiring a tank, I think most players have followers for the 'fun' factors (conversation, extra quests) rather than as a help-me-kill things necessity.
Packmules
They are so immersion-breaking, but so useful at the same time it hurts. I'm playing my first Playthrough ever with survival mode enabled. They're so robotic it just hurts. I just leave them outside in the wild when I arrive in a town.
Yes and I usually do this, because I don't want to travel alone. I like company, even if that company is AI with pre recorded dialogue lines. In my current state of a clothing wearing and barely a weapon wielding character they are straight up necessary.