Top 10 best followers in Skyrim - Anniversary Edition

[@BeyondEnlightenment]

We hope you enjoyed this video as much as we did making it! Please leave any comments below, like & subscribe. Make sure to check out our other videos! Thanks for watching!

[@arwahsapi]

One of my playthrough I realized I could take Delphine, Esbern and Mercer Frey along my adventures altogether. I took the Thieves Guild quest line first until I had to meet Mercer Frey at the Snow Veil Sanctum. We didn't enter the temple but took him along with me for the Dragonborn quest line. After rescuing Esbern from the rat way and taking him to Delphine I chose the dialog option to go together to Sky Haven Temple but didn't enter the temple, instead we went to the Dawnguard Castle and started the Dawnguard quest line to rescue Serena. With Serena as addition they formed an invincible army of baytlemages. There's still one slot available for a generic follower though.

[@deadline3142]

As someone playing in a survival legendary, I will attempt this

[@trueredpanda1538]

Probably could grab that dog inn that daedric quest as well TBH. Don't know if you could add sven or hire some more pepole that way though?

[@amtoad2208]

Add a battle troll you'll be unstoppable

[@Lestergaming-fe5jm]

Ironic how all three of them end up betraying you more or less

[@arwahsapi]

And what's more fun to watch is they often attacked each other inadvertently, when that happened it'd be an endless fight because they're all registered as unkillable or essential

[@Foodisgood]

This might shock everyone but the anniversary edition added five new followers. The first one is Rulnik Wind-Strider. The only problem the content that added him most people won't get him. He is part of the daedric artifact quest to get bittercup. When you start the quest there are 3 options. Depending on what you choose if what you will get as a reward. If you choose fortune you get TONS of gold. If you choose power you get a very new unique helmet(Looks like a roman gladiator helmet) and weapon.(Looks like a roman gladius plus a gladiator shield.) If you choose "nothing" you get the new follower. He can be a hearthfire steward, join the blades, and be married. His max level cap is 75 by comparison Serena has a cap of 50. He is a ridiculously overpowered nord mage. It is entertaining to watch him solo hordes of enemies with his spells. The other 4 are dunmer followers from the ghosts of the tribunal questline in the anniversary edition. Their level caps are all 100! Only problem is you have to join their cult to recruit them if you kill them all you don't get them as followers. All 4 of them have 1 artifact from Elder Scrolls 3.

[@trueredpanda1538]

This is what I am looking for! Someone who can level upp to 80 at least, how would you start this questline? I recently heard about the aniversary edition, and got the content for free somehow. (I relised I could fish and the questline with dark seducers bandits being new).

[@Foodisgood]

@@trueredpanda1538 To start the bittercup questline you read a note at the inn in Falkreath. To start ghosts of the tribunal questline(There are several quests and multiple paths like destroying the religion or joining it.) you have to read the note in the temple at Raven Rock. You need high speech stat to persuade them to let you join allowing you to get the followers though. Otherwise you get locked into the path to kill them all.

[@trueredpanda1538]

@@Foodisgood thats pretty cool! Aldo, thanks for the headsupp with the speech skill, I am gonna jump into this quest once I feel that is high enough then. 😁

[@justdominik9812]

I know it's pretty late now to add that but you can also challenge all 4 of them to a duel and if you win you get to join the temple as well as immediately get them as followers. ​@@Foodisgood

[@lordharkon84]

Ralis Sedarys is the best one in my opinion. His damage is absolutely crazy and he doesn’t have any annoying repetitive dialogue like many others. He’s quiet, but thats what i like about him

[@BeyondEnlightenment]

I'll have to keep that in mind for my next playthrough!

[@calebgalli5582]

Who is he?

[@Glostahdude]

@@calebgalli5582 the guy that’s digging up Ahzidal’s Armor that you bankroll on Solstheim…. Won’t fill you in on details in case you’ve never done quest….. it’s a must have if you are serious about enchanting your own gear

[@calebgalli5582]

@@Glostahdude oh I never knew he could be a follower, I always killed him hahaha

[@malaktunisky3874]

@@calebgalli5582 same hahahaha

[@timtairakena1875]

I like marcurio he cracks me up....im an apprentice wizard NOT a pack mule!! lol

[@kaylamoore3083]

But make it quick lol

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

Frea is the best. She has no max lvl meaning she can probably lvl up as high as possible(source: uesp - followers) and she's always has the chillest personality. Like when u trade with her she says "very well" and she makes comments like "ur fearlessness never ceases to impress me" etc. And she duel wields and is essential/immortal

[@AroundTheBest]

Top 10: 1) Ralis Sedarys: Hyper aggressive with dual wielding perks and 2x normal damage (NPC only perk). Capped at 60. 2) Frea: Dual wielding perks, tanky and has more utility than Ralis. No level cap. 3) Teldryn Sero: Aggressive conjurer and good with a sword. Level cap: 60 4) Celann: 1.5x extra damage and decent perks, no level cap 5) Durak: same as Celann but doesn't get the passive frost resistance 6) Rayya: the best housecarl, she's like Jenassa but has better stats and better Ai. Level cap:50 7) Mjoll: she levels 25% faster than you up to level 40, making her the most powerful early game follower. 8) Cicero: the best dual wielder in the base game. Give him a Forsworn sword with +3 absorb stamina and watch him chain power attacks. Great for sneaky players. Level cap: 50 9) Ingjard: no level cap and decent ai, too bad developers forgot to give her perks 10) Aela: She's almost as good as Cicero but can be married, giving you the lovers comfort bonus on the go. Mjoll offers this too but Aela isn't as annoying. You can transform into a werewolf in front of her when she's no longer a follower and she won't be aggressive. Level cap: 50

[@luckystroke209]

Just an error, celann Is not a nord, Is a Breton. No ice resistance

[@AroundTheBest]

@@luckystroke209 I meant magic resistance. If I were to redo this list I'd add Jenassa(dual wielding, light armor), Eola(amazing ai) and Talvas(level 25 even if you're level 2). Cicero, Ingjard and Aela shouldn't be top 10. Though you can make a case for Aela being the best convenience follower due to her high stamina.

[@usmanya5110]

The best way for mjoll to work is dual wielding. Cause two handed weapons they kind of suck sometimes with followers minus Vilkas of course.

[@fallenangel8237]

Frea is the best.. 🥰

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

Agreed

[@kineticpen8920]

Everyone sleeps on Ralis Sedarys. He is, without a doubt the most bad ass follower in the game. He even executes his attacks more effectively than the player in most cases.

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

He's better then Teldryn sero and that's been proven. He only seems weak because of his leather armor but give him good armor and powerful weapons with paralyze enchantment and mehrunes razor since he duel wields and he's unstoppable and destroys enemies in 3-1 hits most of the time

[@Glostahdude]

Personally I like Erandur as a mage character. He’s not annoying and he’s got some great dialogue on just about every where you go. Jenassa too! She’s badass! Wicked dual wielding and archery! And Talvas and Teldryn! They all have different uses. I use so many different ones for different types of quests. Not to mention you can use them to stash gear on too if you haven’t gotten around to getting your own dwelling yet!

[@nay1k_y]

Stupid me killed Cicero during the dark brotherhood quest. I regretted it so much but made a new character and Once I got to the quest with my new character,I spared him without heisting. In my opinion, he’s probably the 2nd best follower✨

[@Pink_dustbunny]

How come you didn’t load a save file before killing Cicero ? :(

[@willtews955]

I always thought that Sero is the best because I think he's the only spellsword follower you can get. He has a variety of spells he can use he's a tank, healer support he can use melee, archery staffs scrolls. He's pretty op compared to the others, he's so good he could give Serena a run for her money-almost.

[@MalachiBlue-yl7wt]

J'zargo uses destruction spells and uses a bow if you dont give him a weapon

[@uberboomer8670]

All of these followers might be great, but I simply don't have it in me to dismiss Lydia...we've been thru so much together and you can tell she lives for melee combat, so robbing her of that is flat out inhumane. 143 Lyds, 143

[@BluffyMoo]

I prefer just sticking with Lydia. I put her in Golden Saint armor with an upgraded sword. Along with her, i conjure Staada. Its a beautiful thing watching those two Golden Saints team up against enemies while I just stand back and "can't wait to count out (the enemies') coin." The make quick work of many enemies, especially Forsworns and mages.

[@anonymous6294]

Agreed

[@kreidas]

Question regarding Lydia: is she considered “essential”? Ie can she die?

[@BluffyMoo]

@@kreidas She can die, but ONLY from damages accidentally inflicted by you, the Dragonborn.

[@Houndz18]

I accidentally killed Lydia while she was down with my bow when I was trying to kill the guy that knocked her down 🥲

[@Hexapoda.Resident]

I had not set Serana so high due to some bugs in the Anniversary Edition, if you ask her to wait at some spot you can not get her to follow you again and will continue to stand in that spot until she return home, at that point she will not respond and whatever she carried will be lost, over that she tend to get in the way more than other followers and have a boring dialogue. J'Zargo is fun and good but also a coward, in some situations he will run away or just sit down in fear and cover his head. But in large this is a good list.

[@rutgerwagnermusic972]

You can shout at stuck followers to unstick them- Fos Ro Dah

[@mairirose5843]

I had Serana glitch on me…she returned to fort Dawnguard and wouldnt follow. I attacked her with low lvl iron dagger and got her health as low as I could…she attacked me…forts soldiers attacked her…I escaped and fast traveled to her dads castle…he’s already dead btw, went to back and entered back door…when I did she was right behind me and has followed ever since…hope this helps😊

[@IGYIMZ]

sero will always be my favourite follower, don't think i've hired anyone else other than him lol

[@Synthyourlife]

Illia being slept on AS USUAL 😂😂😂

[@passionateandloyal]

Riiiight. She is also content she randomly animates goats for no reason.. she has an attitude.. won't steal.. and will not wear the armor you want. . However she is amazing with staffs❤

[@passionateandloyal]

One time she killed a dragon while I was riding it.. and I was like what the hell you never do that. And then I turn around and realized the dragon had killed my rekling 😂 she's very unpredictable

[@littlebig2162]

I hate dogs constantly banging into me when im talking with someone or sneaking, besides being a regular nuisance in tight corridors...I wish they were scripted better

[@saidtrad9986]

How is Frea not #1? She literally destroys everybody on this list it’s not even comparable, her dps is out of this world and she just never dies

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

Not to mention she doesn't have a max lvl according to uesp which I think means she can lvl up as high as possible

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

Also she dual wields and give her bloodscythe and soulrender and death brand armor and she's badass

[@ryanrich7133]

Great vid🤙🏾

[@heavilyimmersed6325]

Mjoll will always be the homie 👌🏾

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

Mjoll is great just like Frea. They both have chill personalities. But Frea doesn't have a max lvl when I read on uesp and Mjoll does up 40. I'm assuming no max lvl means they can lvl up as high as possible but I'm not sure

[@tefazDK]

J'Zargo being number 2 on this list is the worst joke ever. At least in terms of combat. I can understand if you like his personaly which is fair & subjective of course. But he can hardly win over any other NPC's even when he's lvl 300 and the other is lvl 30. Mjoll is also not worthy of bronze imo. My list would be (in terms of combat): 1. Ralis Sedarys 2. Frea 3. Durak 4. Teldryn Sero 5 Celann 6. Rayya (Yes she's a housecarl with no perks, but she's a dual wielder in heavy armor, and she wins over most others) 7. Eola (Only good Early game) 8. Jenassa 9. Marcurio As you can see the expansion followers are mostly OP, & unfortunately mage followers just aren't very good.

[@mos_x_insan3110]

That one frost mage chick I think Illia is absolutely amazing. To bad she becomes unavailable after you dismiss her due to a bug that Bethesda still hasnt fixed over a decade.

[@hugeheadliang]

Teldryn carried me in my legendary playthru

[@darthimreaper7280]

Y'all sleep on Durrak from Dawnguard I like his background lore plus from vanilla game he levels with character and has crazy stats

[@keyfitter]

Just started the Special Edition. Just like the 2011 edition I will stick with Lydia after discovering something about her a while ago. I quit using her just for bait as she is kinda useless without upgrades. She picked up a Staff Of Spikes on her own from a Falmor and started using it. Now I equip her with two Staff Of Fireballs and keep upgrading her sword. With a high damage rating and being extremely aggressive, she is like a tank with serious firepower using a staff in each hand. I just have to keep a lot of soul gems but my enchanting skill is going up quickly. She's totally useless for stealth but fun to watch. Not many enemies stand up under her now.

[@frenzybrawlstars9449]

Lydia always be my fav don't care about haters

[@keyfitter]

Give her a couple of Staff Of Fireballs and upgrade her sword. Can't do anything about her bow though. It never shows up in her inventory.

[@williambreeze2659]

Solid list!

[@legobrixstudios5073]

Teldren sero is great but it’s very annoying when you have to trade items cause he always says “if it will help us get moving quicker sure” And he won’t shut up about the person he worked for last

[@transbender5906]

Love J’zargo’s personality but oh my god he is incapable of not getting lost. We’ll be in some crypt and I’ll realize he’s not there and I have to spend 30 minutes finding him. Also I have Inigo and sometimes Chicago’s destruction spells set Inigo off and Inigo kills him so I have to reload the game. And sometimes we’ll be vibing and wandering but then I turn around and Avocado’s dead on the floor.

[@kobe3941]

I think it all depends on what build your going with if it’s stealth it’s easily Cicero or Serena mage is marcurio or Serena and warrior is any inner circle companion

[@thebrokenglasskids5196]

I don’t care about follower’s stats tbh. I’m the rp geek type player so I just care that they have depth to their dialogue and story. For that reason Serana is indeed the only vanilla follower worth a damn to me. If not her than I recruit one of the amazing modded ones such as Inigo, Sofia, etc. They’re amazeballs.

[@oldgreggsmadmemes4431]

What about the new followers in the game

[@malaktunisky3874]

Gogh, I was hoping he would be in this list

[@aceghostrus122]

When u know who is number 1 without even watching!

[@visualaddictions906]

So Serana you want to boost magic, one hand n Ice magic.(?) And with Teldryn you want to boost magic, one hand n Fire magic.(?).. but anyways thanks for sharing...

[@jhonrb6292]

always serana

[@BeyondEnlightenment]

Always 😀

[@ryanjw15]

Come on dude you can't disrespect Marcurio like that by putting him at #8. The guy quite literally runs circles around J'zargo and even Serana in terms of his magical prowess.

[@christracy968]

I think the most useless follower that you can get is that bug the colorful bug that you can rescue from that cage randomly that literally does nothing but follow you around

[@easyzeg2012]

I think it's a pet

[@claytonjacobs4098]

It gives you a buff if you ask it too.

[@CitiesOfAsh]

Can you still do the dark brotherhood initiate glitch and get 2 followers?

[@pepisasa5232]

the best is Ralis Sedarys... By a very long shot....

[@GlassTarantulah]

Agreed

[@Ragnar_ice-veins]

My only thing is I hate that he summons flame instead one of the many other better summons

[@wilhelmscream6919]

How's the Follower combat AI when it comes to various combat styles ? Like...do they utilize the shield, how likely are they to actually hit with an arrow, etc ?

[@lordharkon84]

Typically aggressive followers that charge into their enemies are better instead of ranged. The hunting bow glitch makes archer followers useless. If you can give your follower a forsworn sword or a pickaxe, any one can dual wield which is the most powerful combat style.

[@wilhelmscream6919]

@@lordharkon84 Weird. I seem to remember reading somewhere that giving an archer follower a single arrow of a given type makes that their new ammo type, of which they've an infinite supply. Made it seem that archer followers were a thing and that people had put thought into it.

[@lordharkon84]

@@wilhelmscream6919 even then its not amazing damage. Hunting Bow + Dragonbone arrows result in pretty mediocre damage. Like 30 per hit. While Illia hits 90 per each icy spear and she can cast them 3x faster

[@chicojulito]

my top 1Frea and ralis Sedarys 2 tendryn sero and talvas and 3 mjoll and jennasa

[@ethanstaaf404]

Jzargo sucks, he only uses sparks. Marcurio may have a level cap but will always be more useful then jzargo

[@Lordoftheapes79]

Did they fix J'zargo in AE so he's essential without the unofficial patch? Or is that still a problem?

[@uzytkownikx.9608]

You can kill him still.

[@clobzz]

can someone explain to me how follower leveling works? i only had one follower (faendal) up until level 252 (yes i power leveled and abused exploits) and then made jzargo my follower, but he feels super weak. Do they only level when i level? Do they always start at level 1 no matter what level i recruit them at?

[@usmanya5110]

@RBorn don't forget about followers for stealth stypes Beginner to midgame:Marcurio Endgame:Cicero, Aela, Serana, and maybe the initiates.

[@anthonyvasquez6113]

6:37 Serana is from the dawnguard DLC, not dragonborn.

[@lagomorphine]

6:38 She's available with The Dawnguard DLC, not Dragonborn

[@lifeasafanpodcast9529]

Dwarven sphere is my favorite

[@clint7247]

I hate Barbas! Why did Bethesda set his follow range to be right on top of the player? He's just like a real dog, always underfoot. 😡

[@keyfitter]

Yeah, I was glad to get that quest over with. That dog was annoying me the whole time.

[@etpviben4205]

What about Eola !? I mean she always goes back to the cave u found her in and I use her cave as a home ngl

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

I don't know if you can do that. Like what if ur items disappear if u store them?

[@sahilmirshikari6016]

My favourite one is marcurio

[@stormbringer_7774]

Norn iron!🤪🙌🇬🇧 Hail Sithis 🤔

[@sergiopinela5401]

By the way where is the goblin man? You talk about anniversary edtion and dont talk about Rulnik and not even Gogh? You crazy?

[@KingdomUploader]

I don't get it - twice now i've tried to hire a mercenary but they say...you already have a companion...whats up with that?

[@claytonjacobs4098]

Glitch...or do you have a companion with you that you forgot about?

[@KingdomUploader]

@@claytonjacobs4098 Hello, Right now i'm back playing fallout 4. When i can upgrade my pc, i want to start a maxed out modded skyrim. I'm pretty sure i had followers when i asked about this and like fo4, theres proly a multiple companion mod for skyrim...assuming that indeed was my problem. Thanks for weighing in though; cheers!

[@demonslayer9016]

Followers who are low cap need to be replaced , not sure on why they are rated so highly if they cant keep up with the damage and health sustainability. Jzargo is uncapped but i think he uses mostly low level spark spells. I dont know, maybe frea should be higher or one of the DB intitiates have no no cap either

[@claytonjacobs4098]

Maybe we just like them. Not everything is about stats.

[@thegribblereport7294]

That channel?

[@occultdestroyer]

J'zargo isn't essential

[@mistahcopyright4586]

Mjoll over Frea??nah man

[@Knupette]

WHERE IS LYDIA ? !!!!

[@sergiopinela5401]

Teldrin Sero and Serana still the best followers. Rulnik Wind Strider is nice tough he is not very cool, not very simpathetic. And... we still dont have the stats. He a nice mage but nothing out of other world. Thoug a nice new follower. All them mages from the follower and the Skald girl are all nice followers. Some of those said in the video besides they are cool followers they are nothing very cool

[@isaacmiller8833]

I just use Lydia

[@chrisgagliano1116]

Marcurio will beat any follower 1v1.

[@Local_commentor]

Lmao no he cannot beat teldryn sero or even vilkas

[@usmanya5110]

once he's out of magicka then he's pretty much useless. like he won't even use a one handed weapon.

[@idkpeerpressure2854]

Celann

[@aniramqueen1547]

No entiendo a qué viene poner un título en castellano si el vídeo no lo está..... Absurdo...

[@DRT-81]

WHAT ?!!

[@nn-db4fw]

Serana is a joke as follower. This list is horrible.

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

She's overrated I have to say. Frea trumps her 💯. Even tho Serana can use absorb health spell her magic becomes useless one u get a far lvl. Frea can duel wield bloodscythe and soulrender if u think absorbing health is useful for a follower

[@nn-db4fw]

@@Jason_living_in_hell Maybe so, but Frea won't tolerate any crimes, which makes her useless as a follower.

[@Jason_living_in_hell]

@@nn-db4fw no followers have everything tho when u do research. I also found out Frea has no max lvl while Serana does. Source:uesp Altho Frea doesn't tolerate crimes she does have 2 qualities that make her the best which is as I mentioned earlier no lvl cap which means unlimited lvl up and being essential. What makes that great is she has a *combination of both* and I can't find any other follower through my research who has that

[@nn-db4fw]

@@Jason_living_in_hell I know she has unlimited levels, but that isn't much needed as the skills doesn't increase, just health and stamina. And as I said; Frea is useless because she won't tolerate any crimes unlike Jenassa, hence why she's a better follower since they both do same damage.

[@nn-db4fw]

@rborn2288 I'm no "bud" of yours, let that be perfectly clear! My playstyle would make it impossible for me to use Frea as a follower because she's a virtue signaling b1tch. They both have 100 in One Handed, and that Dual Flurry and Hack and Slash only makes it marginally more dps. Jenassa makes work of her thibgs, it just takes a tad longer time which isn't a biggie. If you give Jenassa 2 swords that does 780 damage each with Health drain and Paralyse enchantments, she can rip a Legendary Dragon apart on her own. Jenassa's armor is enchanted with Health which gives her way enough hp to tank whatever there is outthere, around +200 health which puts her on par with a level 80 warrior in health. More than enough, no need for unlimited health as followers barely take any damage on Legendary difficulty. Serana is a joke, I never talked positively about her, so why are you bringing her into this?? I would any day take Jenassa before Frea just because she gives me the freedom to do as I please. Beside from level 80 on Legendary difficulty, all followers are a joke and I rather travel alone instead of bothering with a follower doing all kinds of weird things.

[@MalachiBlue-yl7wt]

Serana and pets dont mix well, whenever i take a dog with me serana always accidently hits it with her magic and they end up fighting which will end up with the dog being killed. So if i take serana there will be no pets. I prefer j'zargo, he doesnt accidently hit pets with you so he's good

[@godusopp11]

I dont get the hyle for serana. I know she is strong and all but i dont really like her. She gets annoying imo

[@entenigelpfau]

To me, Serana is the least follower, i ever wanted! It is not about how powerful someone is or how much damage someone deals, Followers, you, the player has to "endure" all day long! What am i trying to say is: I CANNOT STAND SERANAS DEPRESSINGLY, ANNOYING COMPLAINING ABOUT ... EVERYTHING! To have her monotic, depressive voice in my ears all day long is ... ARGGHHHH! The "Best Follower" relates to what your plans are ; if you want to infiltrate a dungeon, secretly, Jenassa would be my choice. Even that she is not the strongest of them all. *A ranking of all the followers, related to the many different playstyles would be Great! ... mostly these rankings are too superficial

[@alexanderbean7737]

Serana is annoying