Pickpocketing followers' gear mid-combat is actually the ultimate cheese strat

[DragonbornVet]

I just realized this while running through Bleak Falls Barrow on a new playthrough. If your follower is tanking a tough enemy, you can literally pickpocket their best weapons and armor off them, use it yourself, then pickpocket it back after the fight. They won't even notice because they're in combat.

Like, I just took Lydia's Daedric sword, killed three draugr with it, and gave it back. She never dropped below 90% health because the AI doesn't care if you strip them mid-fight. They just keep swinging with their fists if they have to.

This trivializes early-game gear checks way harder than I expected. You don't need to find your own loot if you can just borrow from whoever's following you. The pickpocket leveling is free bonus damage too.

Am I late to this or does nobody actually talk about it?

 

[TamrielTactician]

This is technically true but I'd say it's more of a exploit-y workaround than an actual strategy most people lean on, mostly because it feels jank as hell once you realize what you're doing. Like yeah, the AI won't path-find differently if you strip them, but it breaks immersion pretty hard and there's usually better options by that point anyway.

The pickpocket leveling angle is legit though - that part I hadn't thought of. If you're min-maxing early levels you could theoretically farm it, but honestly Bleak Falls Barrow gear is already pretty solid for where you are, and Lydia's Daedric sword is late enough that you've probably found decent stuff on your own.

Where this actually gets weird is if you're playing on Legendary or a harder difficulty mod - then yeah, I get the appeal of borrowing a follower's best piece for a specific tough fight. But stripping them naked as a routine thing just feels like you're padding stats without actually engaging with the game's progression. There's a reason people don't really talk about it - it works, but it's not fun. You'd get more mileage just rushing to some easier dungeon loot or crafting up some iron gear and moving on.