Followers randomly deciding to tank damage for you is the weirdest game design

[RiftenWanderer]

I just had my companion walk directly into a giant's club swing to "protect" me, took like 200 damage, and I realized I have no idea if this is intentional AI or a bug that's been in the game for 15 years.

Like, they'll stand there and let themselves get destroyed instead of backing up or using ranged attacks. Sometimes it's actually helpful if they're tanking a dragon or something, but most of the time I'm watching my follower die to a bandit because they decided this was their moment to be a meat shield.

Does anyone know if there's a perk or a mechanic that controls this? Or is it just "followers are dumb and will sacrifice themselves for no reason"? I'm playing vanilla on Switch so I can't mod it out, just trying to figure out if I should be playing around this or if I'm missing something obvious.

 

[TamrielTactician]

It's intentional - followers have an AI package that makes them try to block damage for you, especially if you're taking hits. Problem is the pathfinding and positioning is pretty rough, so they end up walking directly into attacks instead of actually blocking anything. You're not missing a perk or setting, it's just how the engine handles follower combat.

The weird part is they'll do it even when it's completely pointless. A bandit with a dagger? They'll tank it. A dragon breath attack? Sure, go ahead and stand in front of your squishy mage. The AI doesn't really differentiate between "this is a good time to protect the player" and "this is suicide."

On Switch you're stuck with it, but the behavior gets way more manageable if you just keep your distance and let them engage first. Don't stand right next to them in combat - stay back, use ranged attacks or spells, and they'll usually position themselves between you and enemies without walking into the worst possible spot. Also helps if your follower has decent armor and health. A glass cannon follower will go down faster even if they're trying to tank.