Top 10 Best Followers in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Best follower. She's the type I'd fall in love with in a heart beat. Plus she's the most interesting. Aela may give her blood to make you a werewolf but apparently she will only do it once. After your cured your screwed if you wanted to go back. Serana on the other hand can change you to a vampire lord again and again after you have cured yourself. (She can bite me any day is all I got to say. ) and if your an archer she can make your eleven arrows even stronger. If not, it's something to consider. Last but not least she actually has a story. Now don't get me wrong I thought Aela was hot. But she did not have no story besides to be part of a few quests and send you off to kill a few silver hands.

Most interesting of all followers; almost childlike, in her post adolescent curiosity, but one helluva lady in a fight. Very quick to spot an ambush, if you keep her close. Good ranged magic, but a one vampire army when equipped with staves... Keep a good supply of charged soul gems when traveling with this lady. Her reluctance to engage in melee keeps her out of your way while she's pelting enemies with frost spikes and the like. Also excellent on the sneak attack. If your a melee type fighter, she'll keep your flanks clear and watch your rear.
However, she can be a P.I.A. with her constant mimicry and complaints about the weather.

Still haven't brought her back to her family home yet... and it's been three days now, laugh out loud. Combined with your Huscarl, she is, by far, the absolute greatest secondary companion of all time. She efficiently dual wields a weapon in one hand and rather potent magicks in the other. Unlike lesser vampires, she can follow you anywhere--even outside in the daylight, or even into a city--, without burning up or getting attacked for being, well, a vampire. I haven't tried her out yet as the only companion, but come on. Zombie Snow Sabre Cat Thrall?

There's no way you can pass that up.

Was a Lydia guy in my past saves. But when I got all the dlc's and finished DG, I didn't marry anyone else. Will probably remain unmarried even when they add the feature that she's open for marriage, because she's a really good follower. A health drain in one hand, destruction on the other, can resurrect nearby corpses, is a vampire and can turn you into one as much as you want, really stealthy, doesn't get in the way, has one of the best (if not the best) back story (come on, all that "saving the vampire princess "-esque dialogue with her parents? ), and she can interact with her environment.

Especially that sarcasm. "Teamwork right there. " when she kills someone herself. But when you take her to places like Eldergleam Sanctuary, she'll comment that the place is beautiful, and that she's glad you're there with her (adding more pain for the pro-marriage players). And more comments on more things.

Who doesn't like a follower that flails around like a drunk, tankard in ...more

I've kept J'zargo as my follower for the entire game so far (with the exception of forced followers in quests) and I am a level 59. I have a full suit of dragon armor on him, his very own glass sword with his name on it, Mehrune's Razor the spellbreaker shield, a ring I named "gills" (can swim underwater without drowning), some staffs and Savos Aren's Amulet. I like J'zargo so much I've reloaded games just to keep him if he got killed in a quest. Thankfully that's only happened about two or three times. He is a pretty strong character. Give him a selection of staffs and he will use them. His favorite go to weapon is Mehrune's Razor. He is a strong mage who typically kills with lightning strikes and shock damage. Most of the other character's dialog annoys me. J'zargo has a cool accent and simple dialog so not to be so annoying.

J'zargo has the lowest levels of spells of all mage followers... that having been said on many board why NOT to use him, I found a simple approach to fix it! Since he will level all the way with you, give him very high staffs, he won't run out of charges as a follower. You should see him with double fireball blasters! Double BOOM. He's like a machine gun that way. Also this seems to keep him back out of the front line a bit more as he has distance and is very accurate with it.

Why is this fleabag even this high up? He does level with you, sure, but he constantly brags about how he thinks he is better than you, which gets old really quickly. His levelling doesn't necessarily make him a great mage, it's his spells that do all the glory. With only apprentice level spells in every mage skill tree, you are better off with Talvas Fathyron or Illia than this retard.

I play as a Khajiit and I'm now on level 35. I have gotten J'zargo on level 26. In my opinion, he just pro. He excels in destruction magic and also use the sword. In fact he can level up with you until level 80 when he locked on that level. Ever since I got him as a follower, he has became my best friend in Skyrim. Right now I have a fully enchanted set of daedric armor. And my Khajiit brother J'zargo has ebony armor. Together, me and J'zargo take down powerful dragons together. Me with Dragonbane and J'zargo with powerful magic we feel like we are almost invincible. Because of J'zargo, I can't even recall the last time I had to respawn. KHAJIIT POWER!

Aela. She kills a giant on your first visit to Whiterun near the Hanningbrew Meadery. While giants aren't that difficult, it is kinda badass. Did I say she was a werewolf? A werewolf. More badass-ed-ness right there my friends. She is a valiant, honorable companion. She can kill with a bow like nobody's business. And if you give her some enchanted weapons like a sword or some waraxes... Woah. Aela is my all-time follower. Bar none.

Who else could have first place?
Aela is good looking, strong and just a great character.

She deserves the top place due mainly to the fact that she
Is one of the only plot based followers and she gives you
Her blood so that you may become a werewolf.

There is no-one better to have at your side.

Na, use her till level 40 and marry her, she stops leveling there. Then use wither Myoil the lioness for a battle tank that can't die or J'Zargo with staffs. That said, my personal favorite is Lilia, at high levels her ice and frost shuts down mages fast.

I don't really care for her. don't get me wrong, she is an amazing fighter and all. But it looks like a tire ran over her face and to me it's not worth doing ALL the companions quest just to get her.

He was one of the first characters I met when I bumped into him on the road with his broken wheel. Was happily surprised to meet him again later on, he is as loyal as can be to you from beginning to end - and also the only follower I know to randomly start dancing as you're going through caves and dungeons. He's the only follower who keeps me sane, all the other ones start driving me nuts after a while

I always make a point to get Cicero as early in the game as possible. There's a number of places I won't go unless he's with me. He is so well-written with an interesting (but sad) backstory that helps you understand his personality a lot better. He's especially great for clearing out dungeons or Dwemer ruins (making them less eerie), and all of his talking might be annoying at first but the guy really grows on you.

Cicero is hands down the best if your character uses stealth at all. His Sneak maxes out at 100. One-handed, 100, Archery 97, light armor 97. Plus he says and does the craziest things. One of the most well conceived characters in the whole game.

If I see a nasty cat, I'll feed its corpse to my pet rat! Also, a good follower to have if you are a sneaking type, as unlike others he doesn't blow your cover as easily.

Mjoll is like the Death Star without the weakness in the exhaust port. I played the game the first time through as a male high elf 100% wizard and she was my wife. I had her tanked out in daudric armor with enchanted dautric weapons and she killed everything. At times, she even shoved me out of the way to kill things. Now, I'm playing the game a second time through as a female redguard warrior using 100% weapons, heavy armor and no magic at all. I just hooked up with Mjoll again and we are twins in our orc armor. I think I'll marry her again anyway to add some sexual diversity to the game. All-in-all, Mjoll is a beast; she can't die and she kicks the crap out of everything..."May the White Take You! "

I've tried many, many followers in Skyrim through 5 playthroughs, and Mjoll has always been the best. She always goes straight in and takes all the damage for you, scales up to 40, and does tons of damage. If you give her enchanted weapons and armor she is unstoppable. She's the first follower I get every game, and after having her as a follower all this time, she STILL says things I've never heard her say before. In every playthrough, get Mjoll as soon as you can (level 14 earliest) and you won't regret it.

Mjoll the Lioness is in my opinion the best all around follower. She's versatile with almost anything you give her whether it be one-handed, two-handed, or even staves. She has a lot of inventory space, high health, high attack power, and above all things, she's literally invincible. When she can be downed, but she can never be out.

This is one powerful lady! I wonder how long she will be useful; I'm at about level 31. She seems to accept most upgrades, but doesn't seem to use the bow I gave her. Now wearing all steel hardware, axe that kills magicka and puts more ebony arrows in dragons than I can put dwarven...I am slowly collecting ebony arrows )

Can't believe she isn't higher on this list, mostly because, you can carry her through Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild without questions. Once she levels at 30, there are others, but for the low game, no one is better if you're the sneaky kind.

Watched her put an arrow through the eye of an invisible vampire, married that woman! Bows, sneak, and can circle dance like the best rogues out there. She was the perfect counter stab to my back biter fighter/thief.

I love her as a follower, but if you marry her and tell her to go home, there is a chance that she will become permanently missing, which is the most annoying thing in the world.

Will go toe-to-toe with dragons, expert in distance attacks with either bow or staff, will use scrolls and does not die unless you kill her. Deserves to be in the top three.

She squirted on me once when she firmly grasped the weapon I had thrusted into her inventory. We were battling SO hard when I accidentally hit her. She squirted a little on my armor, but I just wiped the bit of blood off and kept playing as normal.

She just goes in and clears em out. She uses magic for protect protection and wepons for offense. She is also one of the only people who can duel wield. Very flexible follower and best bar none.

Just a great companion all around with some nice depth. Sticks with you through thick and thin and never runs.Can really put out the damage. Very respectful and strong at knowing who she is.

Frea can't die and levels indefinitely with the player. She has amazing starter gear and she also looks cool while she slays many enemies.

Literally the best mage in the game. Chain lightening spells blast everything away. J'zargo pales in comparison to this absolute beast of a man. That stupid cat probably chases his own tail while Marcurio is discussing and researching Dwemer architecture and history and mechanics like an absolute chad.

Marcurio has been my bestie since I first started playing Skyrim years ago, and even if I haven't saved in ten hours, if he dies, I'm going back. I couldn't live in a Skyrim with no Marcurio making nerdy anthropologist comments about every ruin we enter before blasting any nearby enemies sky high before I even see them.

He's pretty damn awesome and he is the sass lord supreme, and not to mention an ass kicking machine (who steals all of my damn kills and keeps getting in the way or my arrows) but still, my priority companion every time I start a new game.

I made Marcurio join the blades and he ALWAYS takes out the dragon before anybody else! By the way, the best Blades group is Marcurio, Jennessa, and Uthgerd the Unbroken. But yes he is AMAZING he always takes the attention away from me during fights!

She is pleasant and helpful all along,and I found she complements my wood elf conjurer archer very well, as we quickly get a couple of atronachs on the field. If you prefer voice to looks, also a good marriage partner, and she can stay a home when you reach higher levels. If you prefer looks, Azura's priest is a good alternative.

I really wanted to like her, but she is just outclassed by just about every other mage in the game, but this is all outshined by how sweet of a companion and spouse she is!

She is such a boss, she summons atronachs and familiars, uses wards, does massive damage with flames and sparks, and even occasionally heals.

Good wife and follower. Makes you see green for a bit, who else makes you see green for a bit?

Kharjo has a personality and he sticks out because of that. He is the best in the sense that he's well-rounded, suited for my archer character and funny. He's my favorite follower, even if there is technically stronger or more able followers.

He is so cute and cunning and protects you at all costs. I've become so attached to this follower that I don't want a new one. Once he died by my own hand by accident that I committed suicide so the mission would restart.

Awesome follower. I use him with a Battle Mage. He has a nasty disposition with the enemy, especially when you give him the Ebony Mail, Mace of Molag Bol, the black star, Predator's grace, and spellbreaker. Pimps like a boss!

Best follower I got so far. He is way smarter than Lydia and the only bad thing is when you use unrelenting force on a guard on accident he absolutely rekt the guard. But he is cool.

I have been using her for a long time and she never dies. She is a great follower because she can use a bow and uses melee weapons. Great all around follower for low and high levels.

I had this chick for not even 10 minutes during a quest and she got wrecked instantly. She has badass armor but pretty weak if you'd ask me.

So far she's been a sturdy companion. Guess what's said about her here, is quite true. She is quite strong indeed.

You were very ugly. You look'd like a man, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill you. If you come back, I will say 'You do not look like a man.' Oh, there you are Uthegerd." -Sips_

I remember he scared me the first time I saw him. Now I have him outfitted in full dragon and I would pick him over any follower any day. Except maybe Karjho. Maybe.

Great story, true companion, and when he's with you he's basically the top ranked Argonian in Skyrim so that's pretty cool.

Derkeethus: The bows shooting, dual weilding, sneaky Argonian that likes caves.

Can't die, plus he's a sweetie when you speak to him.
Proficient in block, one handed, and archery, which archery being his best skill

Farkas is good for the archer type who like to hit from far away or for the kind of stealthy people who don't level up their health. Even for the cowards who like to hang back and have other people do the work. Vilkas is a total jerk sometimes, but he's pretty sweet, sometimes. Vilkas is kind of the same, but his styles are a bit different from Farkas'.

Farkas is honestly not that great, they messed up his class. But Vilkas, give him some Daedric armor and weapons and he can one to two shot kill most of my characters. Also I've never had to worry about him dying.

Love Farkas. He is a beast with two-handed weapons, and he is perfect for my archer character. Plus, he doesn't talk too much so long as you don't have a high bounty.

Common man farkas is the best... He is a beast from the start when you meet him and I never stoped admire him because he was one of the few that I liked to... So FARKAS for the win
P. S he has never told anything bad and also he always gives me advises how to fight better farkas is love farkas is life

"My blood is calm, I prefer it boiling. - Ghorbash.
With the right equipment, this dude EATS dragons. Uses bows and all kinds of swords, although a bit of console commanding necessary.

In my game he is my follower he kicks ass totally give him a two handed weapon and heavy armour and he is almost indestructible. He is also good with a bow so I really like him

Stupid auto corrects

Most underage follower in the game and I believe she is the only Dual wielder or one of very few dual wielders in game!

Upgrade her weapons, enchant one health drain, the other stamina drain, give her a good bow, good armor with armor bonus enchant, then give her as many enchants to archery and wielding that you can. S

She doesn't need latest and greatest to chew threw your enemies but why shoe your enemies mercy?

So nice. Does mostly anything I ask. Great fighter and doesn't talk too much, which I like. Some followers just talk too much, which gets annoying when you're trying to listen to someone else in the game talk.

Should be higher ranked near top!

Seriously, Eric should be number one! He has the best comments when he travels you, he can take a lot of hits, he has the classic sword and shield, and Erik is awesome! I know you don't expect much for a farm boy but if you get to know him... You will have a great time!

I always called him Erik the Red because I felt he was similar to the real life Erik the Red, well in some ways.

Eric is funny as a companion! I never tire of him and he's BAD with a sword and shield

He killed a blood dragon by him self with a dwarven great sword

Strong and courageous. Funny how shes married to some gross looking miner dude, but I still married her anyway. Now that I think of it I think she had a kid too that she hasn't see in years... Oh well

Good archer. Looks great in forsworn armor. Will fight until the end.

She stays out the way, doesn't hog the kills, and is a looker.

Put her in some forsworn armour, 'enough said.

I've have Aranea basically the whole game once I accidently killed Lydia. She can't carry much but her mage skills are off the charts! Her atronachs are bloody vicious, she can take a hell of a lot of damage, and her comments are amusing. She'll use a shield in close-combat and wield a battleaxe (even though she won't use it). Give her a dragon priest mask and she is a boss.

Cannot believe she isn't higher... likely because a lot of players go for the Dark Brotherhood and/or Thieves Guild and she will blast you for that. Just wait till your done and go get her and she will follow through all the rest, like a BOSS.

This is one of the best mages in the game... She could use expert level conjuration and destruction spells along with dual wielding staves.
I accidentally attacked her once and she made me fly- only complaint I have is her low magicka capabilities... Sheesh.
You really have to enchant magicka regeneration or give her staves because she lasts about as long as I do in bed.

She's really cool. I gave her total dark brother hood armour and she looks amazing. She kills like a boss and I made a whole girl/dark brother hood crew with me, her, and the female dark brother hood initiate. We kill like pro's

Once took my first bite of human flesh and put on the ring she's been my "go to girl"... and yeah that creepy eye, her reverent devotion (to me) and the fact that she conjures up the corpses as fast as I can make them makes her the sexiest of 'em all. Who needs a whining valley girl like Serena when Eola has your back?

She's one tough mage... I gave her some smithed up dual enchanted forsworn armor items and stole her crappy hide armor and now she can carry even more than I can. I like her "I smell blood" comment.

She conjures a flame atronach, will use most armor or weapon you give her including staves. Plus she has a cool, creepy eye!

She can conjure up a flame atronarch plus reanimate a dead body to help fight! There's so many people fighting for you! Eola, Flame atronarch, Dead Guy, and you! Plus, you can summon any atronarch you want too! Its an army!

Better than Sven. Light armored, trains in archery, and has himself a bow, quiver of arrows, and dagger. Pretty faithful. Not the best but he is my most common follower. I've armed him with thieves guild armor, only gauntlets and and boots are imperial steel enchanted with 15% increase on archery and one armed combat. He has a steel shield, imperial bow, steel arrows, dwarven dagger, sky forge steel sword and a torch. Shame he doesn't do destruction, restoration, and/or conjuration but you can't have everything. I understand your choice though if you disagree. If you agree, I am overjoyed(not literally) and the picture you see him in is totally awesome. Thanks for reading.

I've tried other followers and they either got killed or didn't live up to their bad-ass reputation. Faendal on the other hand has been with me all the way. I gave him an ebony bow and a 90 glass arrows and he literally became a sniper for me. I added an ebony axe and an elf shield and he killed almost any melee opponent that charged him. My only beef is his high morality, which prevented him from picking pockets or opening Expert chests, but I forgive him for that since he has saved me so many times.

I Love Faendal! Give him decent armor and weapons and he destroys! I used him with my Stealth Character and I would definitely use him as a follower again! I think he is just adorable. I call him FannyPack because he carries all my stuff If you haven't done so before I Definitely recommend giving him a try!

Since you can get him easily and early on. He has the potential to be a great follower. He will level up pretty far with you and is one of the best an accurate archers in game. I was swimming near Lakeview when I was set upon by 3 slaughterfish he killed all 3 in maybe 5 seconds while pretty far away. Also he is friendly and great to use as a archery trainer. I decked out faendel in legendary enchanted elven gear.

Ok, I am confused on why Jzargo and Brelyna Maryon are higher up than Illia. Regardless of level, her magic is stronger than both of them combined. Personally, I think it is about Jzargo being a Khajiit, as far as Brelyna Maryon, I have absolutely no clue, maybe it's the personal relationship? If you ever find yourself in Darklight Tower, make sure you help Illia, her magic is unmatched, it is nothing but pure, unadulterated power. She is unmatched by just about everyone and her adept level magic spells are enough to put other Mage followers in their place.

I give her two fire staffs alongside her already impressive destruction magic, and she just absolutely annihilates the opposition. She's like the Human Torch. Super aggressive. I haven't used a lot of followers but Illia is fantastic.

Hard to believe she's not on this list. Was a wonderful replacement of Lydia. She is sweeter, doesn't get lost or blew my cover nearly as much. And she can actually manage kills. Besides, I'm not a mage bit it's nice having one at my side.

When we first started adventuring together she nearly killed me a couple times in melee but I've learned to keep her in front of me and she is so aggressive that once the action starts she is off on her own killing everything in sight. One tough woman.

Sero is the best companion and I will refuse to to anything (except the Goldenglow Estate mission, where I briefly dismissed him, which was my biggest mistake ever because I couldn't find him again and had to load a save but ANYWAY) and I love the unique voice and dialogue. One of his funny traits is that he REFUSES to put on any other kind of armor you give him unless it completely covers his face.

He's really reliable when you feel like going all out to kill something, and is super useful against dragons, because he doesn't have to use a bow and arrow, and like everyone else said, he's a great spell sword, and there's not many followers who can do that.

Yeah, this guy is great. I don't really know why everyone is obsessing over Lydia and Aela, and I personally just flat out despise Serana. Short and restrained rant session concluded.

I first went to Dragonborn at level 15, and from then he has been my follower. Sure you can't really get him any new armour (he only wears Chitin) but he is arguably one of the most reliable and protective, especially at low levels.

A video on YouTube proves that spellswords are the most powerful followers, and Teldryn happens to be the most powerful spellsword.

I just stood back and watch while he fought and killed dragon priest Krosis as well as a blood dragon!

Not only is he very powerful, but has so much more personality than all the other followers, he makes hilarious sassy comments about every place you visit, yet he seems a genuine nice guy! Not to mention he looks awesome!

Teldryn Sero - Great company, and extremely powerful in battle!

Top 3. He shoots fireballs, summons fire atronachs, and is an awesome melee fighter. He's also one of five followers that can dual wield and he's very good at it. He's good at sneaking but has been known to set off traps sometimes. Totally worth it though. He also has something to comment about many places and situations. Levels to 60.

Interesting voice somewhere between silky and raspy. His starting armor looks so cool and unique, a throwback to Morrowind (my favorite TES game) and it looks more post-apocalyptic than high fantasy which is refreshing. Never seen his face but I bet he's one sexy Dunmer mofo!

Teldryn fanboys are fanboys for a reason. He's just a really strong and versatile follower with a heart of gold. Too bad you can't marry him.