I find companions to be complete annoyances in video games except on rare occasions (New Vegas coming to mind). The way I play in Skyrim is to sneak around and go for the stealth kills which the companions make much harder to do. Not to mention that I can't stand seeing my companions die means that I rarely use them.
That is pretty much the reason why I avoid the conjuration tree, because I do not like being reliant on others to help me in game. The only companion I actually enjoy using is Lucien Lachance, and even then I only use him for very hard fights.
Plus as far as I know, the companions in this game don't give you temporary perks like in F:NV, which is a turn off for me. About the only thing I regret about not using companions is the lack of extra storage. Other then that though, I find my gaming experience to be much better without companions. Just my 2 cents.
may just be me but, i love my mage companion i got from the college of winterhold she is soooooo usefull and i give her all my hand-me-downs and she is an amazing fighter!!! her spells are strong and i have "Healing Hands" wich lets me heal her, so she hasnt died yet!!!
Well... It is most certainly a love hate relationship!
Dealing with the 3 main types of companions.... Warrior, Rogue, and Mage.
Warrior~ Helpful for carrying lots of loot, not much else though. I usually end up hitting them more than my foes, unless I am sniping. Verdict.... Get in the way lemming.
Rogue~ Great if the person is an archer! Not too good for melee however. They do tend to stay out of my way though, and they are fairly good at sneaking as well (which helps since I am a sneak) But with the fact they go down quick, and there are alot of close quarter fights, I tend to kill them.... alot.
Mages~ They are great when fighting many weak enemies... (Chain lightning anyone) And they can dish out damage to the tough ones... and slap some uber heavy armour on them and they can survive a bit. (but they cant carry much though) All around if you need help fighting mages are the way to go...almost.
You know how fireballs and lightning tend to send things flying right? Normally it is funny... but not when your on top of a tower...on a cliff and your mage just sent the boss over the edge... then you find out your reward was on the boss's body. *sigh*
So for the most part if you don't kill them the ups far outweigh the downs. I will almost always have someone around to carry my stuff.... :P
Are you playing on hard difficulty, Lydia hasnt let me down once, she takes an absolute kicking! She even fell off the massive bridge north-east of Whiterun when fighting the bandit chief and came scuttling back up the stairs happy as larry! Are you sure your not letting them do to much? They arent there to complete the game for you!
The elf that you can recruit in riverwood is a bit of a loser though, he hangs back far to much and tends to appear when the battles finished! Got rid of him swiftish!
I second the Lydia-as-helpful-companion. She is especially helpful at carrying junk, but she's not bad in a fight either. As far as taking my fights from me, I usually charge in with greatsword wailing away and make most of the kills before she gets there. Sometimes if I'm attacked from all sides, she'll provide just enough distraction to make the difference.
I wish the adoring fan was back in this game he was a great companion well actually he was terrible but I enjoyed giving him weapons and armour that i specialy made so that when he hit someone he took damage or instead of protecting him his armour hurt him more but I ges he can't come back now since i locked him in a oblivion gate
Hmm my housecarl Lydia was with me a along time, I was giving her better weaponry and armor, we where fighting giants and dragons together.
But one time we where just finished with a nordic ruin and was stepping out in the tundra.. And we where attacked by 3 merceneries and SHE DIED. She had fought dragons with me FFS!!!! I was so maaaad that I didn't even wanted to load the game to "resurrect" her, studip housecarl. After I did a quick loot of them merceneries I found a contract on me that was ordered by no one else than Gerda, obviously I earlier on had stolen something of her.. Can't even remember who she is.
SO, my biggest wish is now ofcourse to get my revenge. Anyone who know where I can find her?
Oh, by the way, I have a new companion now, a Kajiit gypsy-caravan guy. He's really more badass than Lydia.
I think they are just the same level as you whenever you pick them up, so if you went and got another one it'd probably be good for a fair few levels.
Personally playing as a Thief I just got annoyed after getting the same old "I don't think you should be in here" from my own companion, so I dumped him almost straight away.
Oh also just to point out I just use my invincible horse Shadowmere to tank dragons and the like so y'know that's always useful. To me the companions in Fallout:NV was much better, bit more of a storyline etc I found.
Though I do use the temporary companions, like conjurations (mainly the old assassin) when in need.
I bring one for every character except my sneak. I almost never hit them in a fight, plus it's cool when they execute stuff. With my pure mage I use Lydia as a tank, and her dying isn't a problem since I can heal her. The only time she died was when a certain dragon who's name starts with OH landed on her in the MQ. I was pissed, let me tell you. Other than that, Uthgerd died during that quest where you fight the 10 dual wielding redguards. That one was nasty. In conclusion, I find them to be a fun addition. For the people complaining that they have no story, Todd Howard was saying they wouldn't from the first interview, so you shouldn't be surprised.
That would be true...if they could actually hit anything. At least 2/3 of Lydia's bow shots miss entirely or hit some object. If the target moves at all, which they do, companions miss. It's the same for you, but at least its possible for you to lead your target, which companions aren't smart enough to do. They are useful for distractions, damage soaks, and pack mules.
Actually my Lydia is a monster. I was fighting bandits and thought I was in the clear but i was on my last bit of health. A bandit came out of no where and just got right behind me an then Lydia SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD...I was fairly impressed and she hasn't left my side yet.