Erandur is definitely my favorite follower, by far. I love hearing what he has to say about our current location, or his past. Such a dynamic character.

Illia is also a fave of mine. BUT IT MAKES ME SO MAD TO THINK HOW GOOD SKYRIM COMPANIONS COULD HAVE BEEN. Imagine a storyline where after the tower incident in an attempt to cope, she decides she wants to either join a new coven or visit the college. and you influence what direction she goes down.

Illia is always bugged in my game sadly. If you recruit and dismiss her, you cannot recruit her again. Think mods can fix it but I rarely use them :/

Brelyna, the Telvanni mage from the College of Winterhold, is my favorite for conjuration builds. She's always excited about exploring various sites, but can still have those "I don't like where this is going" moments once inside that add to the feel of a good creepy dungeon crawl. She also uses destruction magic with her flame or frost atronachs, loves a good staff or two, and makes a dry joke of being a mage, not a pawnbroker when trading items. Moreover you can marry her, which is rare for Dunmer. Give her some proper gear and try her out, she's a good one, and who doesn't like one more summoning to add to your forces!

My problem is loving my modded companions too. 😂 Inigo is my favorite, and he talks to almost everyone! For non-modded though, this is a great list. ❤ 4:11

Not many talk about Uthgred the Unbroken. Easy to get in Whiterun, just beat her in a brawl. Starts off in full Steel Plate minus the helm with heavy armor as her top skill followed by one handed and block. The reason why she sucks at first is because she comes with a greatsword but she actually fights much better with sword and board. Her one handed is literally twice as good as her two handed. Her max two handed is 44 whereas one handed gets to 81 in skill. She is also a good shield user. So simply take her greatsword and give her an one handed weapon and shield and she instantly goes from mediocre to amazing. She will fight with a bow until the enemy comes close and switch to one hand and shield which is where you see how efficient of a tank she is. She gets 50+11.7x pc-1 level for health. Her level cap is 30 but at level 30 she has 387 health and she reaches 79 in heavy armor, 81 in one handed, and 62 in block. Those are amazing stats for a tank. And I noticed she tends to be very good at timing shield bashing.

That “ebony warrior” comment was a pretty wild thing to say bro lmao

Jenassa is one of my favourites, also a duel wielder and decent with a bow. Easy to get as a hired sword. Make sure she has some decent, enchanted (but fix the bug that stops enchantments working first) light armor/armour and give her the best daggers you can get, then stand back as she creates her art for you. She's terrifyingly efficient. PS - New subscriber. Wishing you a happy new year.

Erandur! My guy! For lore reasons hes absolutely fascinating. He has so many connections. I love how Sylgia in Shors Stone mentions a priest of mara passing through the dawnstar healed her. Amazing dialouge

The mage you can hire in Riften is insanely good. I remember I had to dismiss him because he kept nuking everyone before I could get a hit in lol

he might not be underrated but Faendal is a GOAT in his own right, he's set up to be your first follower, and he'll help you get your feet off the ground with your archery skill without the need to completely commit to becoming a thief to get free training, no combat archery without that ranger perk. of course, the Unofficial patch "fixes" this but i've always beelined it to my guy every time i started a combat archer playthrough back in my PS3 days.

I don't do followers, but I like Erik. For a "newbie ", with the right equipment, he's strong in a fight.

I like Ralis Sedarys. He is such a smarmy but charming character.

Erandur is the first follower I used in Skyrim and will forever remain my fav. Every new play through the first quest I do is to get Erandur

Illia had always been one of my favorites, along with Erik the Slayer. And as a new viewer, finding you through this video, you deserve way more subs man! This is high quality You earned a new subscriber right here man

Illia is awesome. Her ice spells are like a cannon. With Tragedian's Fabulous Followers SSE, she gets the light foot perk so she's great for us sneak archers.

Teldryn Sero makes for a great follower. He has unique dialogue for each hold, crypts, caves, dragons, etc. As a mercenary, you only need to hire him once, for he will follow you after the first dismissal for free. Sero can summon a flame atronach to help defeat enemies while he uses a sword and flame spell. When asked about his backstory, he'll tell you of his last employer which makes for a fun story, giving him some immersive depth. Stevnar in the Candlehearth hall was surprisingly unique as well; I would recommend him if you want some unique commentary in a vanilla playthrough.

I've always liked Illia. With only one slightly vague quest I was able to come up with a litany of backstory for her. Maybe she was sneaking around one night as a child and ran into a hagraven for the first time who turns out to be her nanny or aunt. Maybe she kept a skeever or frostbite spider as a pet only to see it get sacrificed for some sick ritual. Maybe she didn't start there at all and found herself sucked in by a charming traveler. The possibilities are pretty high.

illia was like my secret fave i swear no one talks about her. it's kinda sucky she mostly uses ice magic tho and like 60% of the enemies are resistent to it

I have only now found you. I enjoyed this video enormously!! I wish you had more videos on your channel.. I watched the ones that are here. I love your voice and your insight to the followers you featured. I saw qualities in them I had not seen before. It's made me ready to pick some and start new game stories! Thank you!!

In my current playthrough, Erandur was my first companion while I tried to understand my new build. Sadly, he died in Wolfskull Cave. My current companion is Erik, which was always my favorite in the whole game, even considering mod companions like Inigo and Lucien. I absolutely love Erik's personality!

Eola is the most underrated. She is great well beyond her level cap of 30. She has an easy early level quest and she comes with the Ring of Namira (very useful at early levels or in survival mode). Eola is a Breton nightblade with a wide array spells and perks. Her AI coding is top notch and she does a near perfect job of using the right spell or weapon for each situation (no chasing a flying dragon around with a two handed sword like half the other followers). She is probably the best at detecting enemies from long distance and not getting lost/stuck. At the first hint of danger (usually before you see it), she summons a flame atronach and starts spamming destruction spells at an enemy. During lengthy combat, she will raise dead enemies for you. The only negative is that she tries to keep her distance from enemies so that doesn't work well if you need a companion to distract enemies and absorb damage. Her voice lines are respectful and limited which keeps her from becoming annoying or repetitive.

They always rushin forward, ruinin stealth & collect all my projectiles, so betta let them sittin in home.

I like that Crag-jumper lady. She's an archer and she acts like one. Always staying far behind, shoot arrows, no charging the enemies and she doesn't stand in my way.

Me: Sees video title You: lists all my favorite followers in the game I see you are a man of culture as well. Erik and Kharjo have always been my favorites in the game and I'm glad someone else recognizes their quality.

The Unofficial patch corrects the issues with Illia. I remember the first few years skyrim was out before console modding was possible and being severely dissapointed that Illia was bugged . Luckily with console modding and the unofficial patch that's not an issue. Aside from Illia I've enjoyed having Erandur as a follower after completing Waking Nightmare and letting him dispell the Skull of corruption back to oblivion.

Serana, Jzargo and Marcurio are the best spell user followers, but Erandur and Illia are close ones! They don't have the same damage oytput of the 3 i mentioned before, but Erandur is the spellcaster follower that can take more damage, and Illia uses a nice AoE effect (Ice Storm).... I agree on those picks! I disagree on Deerketus: despite i think is a nice pick in terms of "racial diversity" and on a lore point of view, there are better choiches as archers, because of his skill in 1-handed weapons (making him unusable if the opponent close the distance), and his low level cap of 30 (making him weak on mid game). Jenassa is a better choice Some followers that are rarely used from most players (for what i know) and are good picks for me are: - Iona (Housecarl of Riften), one of the best tank followers in terms of stats, very similar to Vilkas (but he can be recruited only after the Companions questline, she can be recruited with less effort). Gregor (Housecarl of Dawnstar) is a close one. - Celann (Dawnguard warrior), in term of stat and level cap maybe the best warrior follower, that can be used in many ways: as a tank, an archer or melee warrior - Valdimar (Housecarl of Morthal) and Belrand (mercenary in Solitude): they are similar to the most used Teldryn (mercenary of Raven Rock, Solstheim), so warrior-mage hybrid (i don't know if they fall under the spellsword or the battlemage class) so their combat style is unique and flexible, and very fun! Maybe he is not underrated, but i must remember how Cicero (the Dark Brotherhood Jester) is strong and fun! If someone never used him, do it!!

I always make Illia into a steward. It's better than living on that tower alone.

i feel like Ralis Sedarys is pretty underrated for how strong he is, people either hate him because his quest is annoying and eats money, or they pass him over for Teldryn Sero, but Ralis is really strong in his own right - he has a level cap of 60 (!!!), he can dual wield just like Rayya (with perks that let him get the most out of practically any 1H weapon type you choose to give him), and interestingly enough some magic perks too, so if you give him Ahzidal's ring, he can make better use of its spells than most non-magical followers would. Valdimar is also an interesting housecarl, but unlike Rayya who can dual wield, Valdimar is the only Housecarl that is a spellcaster, which is neat :)

I have used all five of them at least once in a playthrough

Ironically, I like to recruit Erik to be my steward for Godenhill Plantation. "I need you to be a farmer again Erik"

Wow! You picked some great ones! Derkeethus is iconic! The followers I would add are: Annekke Crag-Jumper, the adventurous mother of Sylgja (one of the prettiest marriage prospects in the game). Annekke is lethal with a bow. She will use a staff to summon, then attack with one-handed weapons or a bow. Breanna Maryon is a powerful summoner and good against other magic users. And Benor is surprisingly good in melee combat. Much more reliable than Vilkas.

Kharjo was the main follower for my first Skyrim character. I’m lucky to still have the character to this day and kharjo will always be a personal favourite.

When playing as an Elf I always go with Faendal first, then Erandur, then Teldryn and finally Serana. She's just too good, overshadows every other followers. But my elven bros always make their cut.

Rayya is the best of them: redguard beauty warrior maiden that fights with two curved swords... CURVED. SWORDS.

Rayya has 1 job and 1 job only, to protect my house and kids when I'm not there. I wouldn't trust anyone else.

I also like Borgakh the Steel Heart, because she's an Orcish Princess that is about to be sold as a Wife to another Orc Chief when you can pay her dowery and have her as an adventurer with you

I have been using Erander a bit since I tried him as a follower a while ago, highly recommended.

I did not know these guys were underrated. I tend to hear a lot of praise for Erandur, Karjho is was a favorite in the early years and Erik has a spot in all our heart. The argonian is just bad (low level , no perks and a confidence set to average) but I get he is the only Argonian. I guess I agree with you on Ilia. We get her via a good quest, she has perks, she's a skyrim fox and she is not a Nord

is just happy enough for the skyrim content

honestly love the voice u used in the video gives me some nice vibes tho! great video!

Illia is a personal favorite of mine. Once I reach her level cap, I recruit her as the Steward for Goldenhills Plantation, or one of my other homesteads. Also a shoutout to the only CC follower; Rulnik Wind-Strider. Added by the Bittercup creation and met by choosing the "Path of Nothing" during the quest "A Dying Wish" Started in the Falkreath Tavern by reading the note "Mysterious Alter." Dude's no joke, with a level cap of 75, his health being 50+(Player Character-1)*8.3, Magicka of 100+(PC-1)*5, and a mastery of multiple schools of Magic. Augmented shock boosts his Chain Lightning, Lightning, and Thunderbolt spells. Mage Armor makes his Stoneflesh spell stronger (assuming you don't give him armor), and he knows Close Wounds to heal a ton of health if he gets damaged. He's also available to be a Steward if you want someone with a very high level cap defending your homestead.

Love that you have Rayya here. She's been a personal favorite for quite a while. The bold warrior heart of Lydia minus the offputting snark. Alongside all the benefits you benefitted. Also really like Erik as a character. An ideal tribute to a loyal fan. And if one is the type of player to use character builds from KZfaq, I highly recommend pairing him with the Arcane Archer build from FudgeMuppet. The roleplaying mixture of the two characters has the makings of a very compelling subplot for your playthrough if you can get in her headspace.

Well done, new sub.

:) Thats very touching about Erik, I always thought he was special and here's the reason; add that to TES's very own " would be hero" from another galaxy :). I always wished somebody would flesh out Erandurs character, he's definitely one of my favorite Skyrim people. Very good video.

I convinced Eric's father to let him be an adventurer then just hired him as my Goldenhills Plantation 😂😂😂

Between Inigo and Kaidan, I’ve pretty much stopped using vanilla followers. But back when I did, I used to use Ilia and Vilkas regularly

Erik is my boy, through and through. Regardless of playstyle and questline, always have the boy in tow. Regardless when or where TES6 is set, I hope they have a book or someone that knows Erik the Slayer. Hell, they could even put him in the game once more, if the game's set date is close enough to Skyrim's.

Me: Watches this video to get some inspiration for the Dark Mage idea I wanted to try. Also Me: Just picks Janessa and ends up a stealth archer anyway.

Great video!

I love kharjo. He's been my favorite companion for years.

I really like Kharjo the Khajit, but he starts to get a hard time fast, unfortunately. I usually go on with him until a certain point, than switch to the one and only, the living legend himself: Teldryn Sero. Since I usually run an archer build focusing on open combat (going full stealth is too OP and doesn't require followers), I prefer a follower that can go to the frontlines and tank while I snipe. But I'll try out Ilia, whom I've never used. Erik the Slayer fits nicely my style!

I’ve never actually taken the nord from the college as a follower. This video makes me wanna try new characters out

Liking your content thus far. You've earned a sub. Keep it up. Ever consider character build videos?

Wait I goto your channel and you only have 2 videos? The other one I already watched. You’re making this KZfaq thing look easy. Good job.

What most new players tend to overlook in Ilia (aside from her quest's difficulty) is her preference in Ice Destruction Magic. In vanilla Skyrim, Ice magic is considered one of - if not THE - most overpowered magic element because of its dual damage type, which are HP & Stamina. Most enemies in vanilla Skyrim rely mainly on HP & Stamina for almost every action, especially attacking and moving. Ice magic strips thay way by making enemies have a much slower movement. This becomes even more evident when you start installing perk and magic overhaul mods. Sure, you can just go to Riften proper and spend 500 gold to recruit Marcurio (who is also an equally powerful mage Follower). However, due to his preference for Lightning/Electro magic element, Marcurio is more suited for players/characters who spec into the Ranged Anti-Magic archetype, since Lightning/Electro magic drains both HP & Mana, which are mostly mages, who are also few in numbers compared to the majority of Skyrim's enemies. Ilia offers more versatility with her Ice Magic because she can support both a Ranged and Melee character playstyles.

To quote bro kharjo, my amulet means a lot to me, but it wont replace something as precious as life(i know its not the real quote, but its someting how i interpreted).

In my longest play through Erik the Slayer was my favorite follower

Just a few days ago I inducted Erandur and Erick into the Blades (together with Marcurio). It felt like a right choice for the three of them, they ruin the dragons with the spells and Eric likes his katana finishing moves a bit too much :D

Rayya is my favorite wifu

My favorite companion is Eola, give her good armor and she lasts a very long time on top of having a high level cap with a lot of good spells and the ability to duel wield.

I honesty think that Marcurio is really underated follower. He is always my top tier companion to put in Goldenhills Plantation for passive money making.

Marry Janessa, put J'zargo in heavy armor 😂

Erik is a follower I recruit ALOT in my playthroughs

Everyone who watched Scatsbury is well aware of Kharjo😂

Illia is the BEST! But the 1st 2 games I played, she disappeared with most of my gear after sending her to (1st play) back to where she was found & also (2nd play) to my own home.

Illia and Erik are my favorites companions, Ryya still haunts me , in my early days I mistakenly asked to marry her and the game glitched to her saying "IT'S SETTLED THEN" and I was , wait, no I like you as a companion. I never recovered from that 😅

I had Kharjo with me and he promptly ran right in front of my axe as I clicked a power swing and suddenly he was dead on the ground. I felt terrible. But also he had some decent loot.

Erandur and Cicero are definitely my favs!!!!

Illia is good but she mostly uses ice spells. Draugr, vampires, dwemer machines, and Nords are either totally or partially immune to ice, so she isn't all that useful, imo. Aranea Ienith is the girl boss of mages in the vanilla game. Not only is she a high level destruction mage she can also summon fire, frost and maybe even storm atronachs. She's also great if you give her staves and uses the best one for each occasion. That being said, my fave is Marcurio. He was my go to before I started modding. His adept shock spell, however, can get you either shocked yourself or arrested by the guards The same can be said with Illia and one of her frost spells.

The dunmer at the Shrine of Azura is also a good one. I've watched her solo dragons, so that's a win in my book.

I love Illia she's my steward at Lakeview manor, my favourite house

I sacrifaced Erik to boetiah , so much for immortalizing.

Well done!

I usually make Illia one of my Stewards, either one of the Hearthfire Homes or my Farm. I like having Stewards who have some magic or combat ability to back up my Housecarl during bandit, giant, or dragon attacks. She actually a real sweet girl, and I don't feel right leaving her back at that run down tower with bad memories.

illia and raaya i didnt know about, ive heard about the others, but out of them, ive personally used erandur and erik the slayer. they cool. my most recent run i was using inigo(mod) and erik the slayer. their interaction was wholesome.

I love playing with Erik, but I do have to admit his traveling dialogue feels limited after a while and I have to take a break from the kid. He does feel so lively for a while whenever I go back and recruit him again. As someone who normally dismisses Lidia so I can adventure alone, I don't really understand why Bethesda coded so many companions if they weren't willing to code them with more personality. There's so many in game and yet only a few who feel like something more than bait that carries your stuff....that also likes to ruin all your stealth plays.

Love Ilia. She's the first follower I ever had that killed a dragon by herself for me. I find her prettier than Serana. Much less annoying than Serana too. The most underrated, in my opinion, is also the earliest follower you can get. Faendal. Give him good armor and weapons and he does a fine job tanking for you. He's a scrawny elf so he gets overlooked.

You named most of my favorites. In fact the only one on the list I have never used is the Argonian. I only like two of the popular ones. Mjoll and Serena. Uthgar is another one I like. Not one of my favorites but one that I like to use early game.

Interesting fact about argonian follower is that he's basically immortal due to vanilla bug - he's set as essential during his rescue quest and this status is never removed after quest end. He's not a lizard-wizard, but still a great pick if you're afraid for your follower randomly die.

*sigh* Derkeethus... I can only ever refer to him as "lizzie" thanks to the first ever Skyrim playthrough I ever saw... I miss being young...

kharjo was always my main, i love him so much!

i hope we get a mitten squad follower❤

Faendal is a top 5 follower of mines. I can get him at level one, he is a capable archer, and trainer. He is the homie

I play with Nethers Follower Framework, my usual team is Erik, Erandur, Jenassa, Ilia, and Derkethus. Its a fun party. I do wish the followers in this game had more personality though.

One time I recruited Derkeethus, Illia and Kharjo to the Blades

I've always killed Erandur. Didn't even know he could be a follower.

I’m good with Serana.

I love Erandur! If only I could marry him in the game he would be the perfect follower 😢

Erik my beloved

Thanks to certain mods, my Char is currently followed by 4 ow my daughters and one son. One of my daughters's mother is no other than Maven Black Briar.

don’t tell me ppl are sleeping on my dude kharjo

I just started playing Skyrim this year and the only one I've even met is Kharjo. This game is so freaking massive comparred to Starfield. For now Lydia has been hard carrying my Warrior Tank as she 2 shots most enemies with the Ebony Battleaxe I gave her. My 2nd character is a sneaky dagger user so companions are a no go but I'm going to have to try out some of these ones once I find'em.

Illia and frea are goated

Stenvar is my favorite and always by my side, with the multiple followers mod I also bring Mjoll and a mage Erandur. Serana rounds out the group...

I like Mjoll the Lioness as a follower. Though the quest to recruit her is difficult.

I always go with Rayya. Her dual wield skill is op. Give ger dawnbreaker and a sword that absorbs hp, and she'll be invincible.

What mod do you use for the textures on the clips for your video?

I find Vorstag the mercenary you can hire at the Silver blood inn to be a fun companion, I also Like to recruit Sven early on and travel with him till I recruit my first Housecarl. I just wish their was a player house that let you group all your followers in one place like the Lucky 38 in NewVegas. I guess the Blades kinda fill that roll, but, I absolutely despise Delphine and refuse to keep working with her after the peace conference.

Bro turned Illya to scarlet witch there