Who is, in your opinion, the best follower in terms of ability and why?

[juniperbugg]

I use Aranea Ilneth from the Azuras star quest I have her on both of my characters. Im really a terrible mage and shes handy to have around since shes a beast mage. She uses all the staffs I give her including the Sanguine Rose. She seems to get stronger with me I dont know if thats dumb luck coincidence or shes actaully getting stronger, shes the only follower I have had who hasnt gotten in my way when fighting (she is however a pro doorway blocker =/) Shes good to me and calls me champion =P Ive tried others, that Marcurio drove me insane I had him for about 20mins and he died like 10 times so I sacrificed him for boethiah ^.^ Aranea just keeps out of my way and kicks ass at the same time and shes saved my ass loads =)

 

[Barstool]

I have been using Janessa from the start. She has a nice mix of abilities, archery, 1 hand, sneak, light armour and block. She ALWAYS uses her ranged weapons first and then moves to engage. You can accidentally kill her, but it is rare and a reload fixes that. Worst I have done was in Rift, battling all the guards. I still haven't revisitted that battle again yet

She does have a few quirky behaviours though. Her default gear seems to be leather armour, a shield, leather gauntlets and leather boots, an iron sword, iron arrows and a long bow. However, she will always prefer a guards helmet over anything you give her, no matter how much better the new item may be. She tends to equip heavy gauntlets and heavy boots whenever given the chance and there is never any telling when she will swap necklaces/rings. Sometimes she chooses a plain silver ring over a ring of major X___X.

The hirelings are just like the enemies, their skill, characteristics and abilities stay relative to your own. I don't think there is actually a best hireling due to that. I think it boils down to preference, play style and which one supports you best.

Janessa is currently fully equipped in Glass that I have upgraded to Legendary/exquisite and she does very well in every encounter I have faced so far. She does particularly well in the aggro department, especially with dragons. Often I have a choice of staying ranged or melee. because her snealk is unequalled by any of the other hirelings (aside maybe the one from the dark brotherhood) you never have to worry about her getting you spotted.

Also, I kept the dog from the "A Daedras best friend" quest (I just didn't finish searching for the axe). He compliments you very well. Except he is also very annoying. He pushes you around, blocks your movements and many times makes it difficult to get out of corners. BUT, he is very powerfull and never goes into submission. He is quick to attack and draw aggro from an enemy leaving you free to deal with them as you like.

Oh, and howdy, I'm new Sorry about the thread necro...

 

[FullmetalHeart20]

I used to like the Khajiit warrior, Kharjo, until I discovered his handicap: he simply flat-out refused to use the bow of soul-stealing that I crafted for him. I dumped all my empty soul gems into his inventory along with the bow, hoping he'd use it to capture the souls of the creatures and NPCs I killed. I even tried several different types of bows and arrows, both weak and strong. No luck there.. the stubborn housecat would always either use his paws or pick up some useless melee weapon from the ground and use that instead. I quickly tired of his insubordination and decided to punish him by taking him to Sky Haven Temple to enlist with the Blades.

Right now I have Iona the housecarl of Honeyside as my sidekick. She at least uses the bow half the time, though she too sometimes picks up random weapons or fights with her fists, especially in indoors locations. I don't understand why the game doesn't let you specify the equipment you want your followers to use.

If they're melee inclined, give them a good sword. They won't use a bow if they're unskilled with it or in melee range of an enemy.