I like the idea of being a wandering badass without someone following me around, and plus the fact that nearly every time a quest has forced a companion on me, they mess up my stealthing.

Lydia has been defending my house for 60 hours.

@Cataphract1014 said:

they mess up my stealthing

I don't use them at all for this very reason.

Yep, totally agree with what you just said. Im exactly the same way.

@shinboy630 said:

@Cataphract1014 said:

they mess up my stealthing

I don't use them at all for this very reason.

Yeah, I don't like it either, Companions feel awkward... The reason the games gives me for them to devote their whole life to me seems weak most of the time, So I let them go.

I've been using Lydia nearly the entire game and she is currently wearing a near full set of Deadric with an Ebony chestpeice and she rarely really messes up my stealth-ing. She and my conjurations are nice when the enemy does find me and my squishy self can't take the hits.

Every companion I've had has been an idiot and always blocking me or my spells so I decided to stop using them today. 

I feel the exact same way as you.

I love my partner, Lydia. If I feel like doing a little stealthing, I just tell her to stay put. She loves to carry my burden.

Yeah, same reasons, messing up stealthing. Also, they don't like it when i got best form...

Oh yeah, i'm also not very good with friendly fire.

I've stopped using companions and horses all-together. I just feel really guilty when they die. And as a destructive battlemage with very little finesse, they die A LOT. Also, that storm call shout obliterated both my companion and my horse (as well as the other 15 baddies in the fort).

With all the fireballs I'm throwing all over the place, they'd die in the first dungeon

@Cataphract1014 said:

they mess up my stealthing

I don't use them at all for this very reason.

Same. Even the so called stealthy companions go charging at enemies the second they catch sight of them. A couple of times I've been lucky enough to get quest NPCs stuck behind objects so I could advance ahead a while without them.

I don't, I'm a lone wolf.

@project343 said:

I've stopped using companions and horses all-together. I just feel really guilty when they die. And as a destructive battlemage with very little finesse, they die A LOT. Also, that storm call shout obliterated both my companion and my horse (as well as the other 15 baddies in the fort).

I don't like using horses because they think its a good idea to charge in and attack a dragon. It is amusing the first time, but after that I just want them to get out of the fucking way.

Mostly I go it alone because the companions present a minor-but-consistent impediment to my character's leveling process. If I can't kill a dude on my own, then I can use that enemy to grind out skill points. I don't need some asshat getting in the way.

Lydia got me killed once. I have the perk that lets you not activate pressure plates, so I had totally forgot about looking out for them. I walked right over one, and then Lydia stepped on it and the trap snapped shut on me. It was a giant spiked wall thing. Not fun.

I love Lydia and you'll never make me give her up, let her down, run around or desert her.

i don't really use them. the only time i do is when i go back to some sight where a krosis is floating around. i hate those things with a burning passion. i use my companion(s) as a meat shield.

I have been running with Lydia. She provides me with backup when shit gets bad, and I also use her as a pack mule to carry more stuff to sell in town.

I never use companions in any of the Bioware games.

I'd totally give in if there was an astromech companion however. My KOTOR playthroughs often devolved into a play session of A Jedi And His Droid.

@Cataphract1014: mostly people use them as pack mules...when i was leveling up my smithing my companion was responsible for carrying and modeling the merchandise.

Also i dunno if it's a bug or what but everytime i go to my home in Whiterun Lydia strips down to'er underthings...now she just sits at that little table in my room, half naked, eating a piece of bread.

@Sin4profit said:

@Cataphract1014: mostly people use them as pack mules...when i was leveling up my smithing my companion was responsible for carrying and modeling the merchandise.

Also i dunno if it's a bug or what but everytime i go to my home in Whiterun Lydia strips down to'er underthings...now she just sits at that little table in my room, half naked, eating a piece of bread.

I like where this is going.

I also subscribe to the "I'm a lone, wandering badass" style of play. It's satisfying to do everything by yourself, especially on quests where NPCs are encouraging you to take help along. I know they don't tend to respond any differently, but I like the feeling of coming back all bloody but victorious from a quest they said I'd need an entire group to accomplish and telling them it's finished.

Unfortunately, my horse also seems to think he's a lone, wandering badass, and routinely jumps into fights without me -- or ahead of me, intercepting an ice shard or two that was meant for the enemy. There have been a couple of occasions when he's helped me take out a bear, but inevitably his shenanigans got him killed when he ran into a bandit camp on his own and picked a fight. I have yet to replace him.

Companions are awesome! Not only do they double your carrying capacity, but they make great tanks if you carefully order them around. As a stealthy character, I usually order Aela into the middle of the room to aggro everything while I stealth around and pick them off with a bow. If you become the leader of the companions, any of them can become your follower (I like Aela the Huntress best for her voice acting and her weapon preference). Best thing is they can train you for free since you can take any gold back that you give them.

@shinboy630 said:

@Cataphract1014 said:

they mess up my stealthing

I don't use them at all for this very reason.

More badass when I murder a dragon alone

I always thought companions hogged xp so I stopped using them. Don't they steal kills?

I don't use them and I need did.

Lydia has saved my squishy wizard several times. She is a bit of a pain at times, but has her benefits.

I used companions in Fallout: New Vegas, but these are kinda bad...I do wish I could just have a packrat instead.

@Afroman269 said:

@shinboy630 said:

@Cataphract1014 said:

they mess up my stealthing

I don't use them at all for this very reason.

I rely heavily on my stealth and sneaking critical hits. Having a companion with me that constantly ruin the element of surprise is just not viable for me. So no, I'm never ever using companions. My only "companion" is a certain horse you get from a certain faction, and since he (it?) can't be killed I prefer him over some blabbermouth that I can't mount. That sounded better in my head than in text.

Nope I never use them, because I like exploring by myself. Also if they die I feel really really guilty.

I didn't until I found Marcurio. Dude is a fucking certified bad ass mage.Can duel dragon priests, blood dragons, whatever I throw at him.

Lydia's my girl. Occasionally helps me out in tough fights and carries heavy ass dragon bones for me.

In the rare occasion I need to sneak around I just have her wait (far away, because if she's close she'll still come fight). I'm usually not sneaking though. I'm all heavy armor, shields, one handers, and destruction magic. Not much sneaking going on there.

The only problem is I keep accidentally killing her in tough fights, and if i give her a staff she constantly nukes everything in sight, even in close quarters.

I had Lydia for a while but she died and I haven't replaced her. Apparently the other companions are unkillable, so I'll probably avoid them to prevent the game from being too easy.

@ShaggyDude said:

Companions are awesome! Not only do they double your carrying capacity, but they make great tanks if you carefully order them around. As a stealthy character, I usually order Aela into the middle of the room to aggro everything while I stealth around and pick them off with a bow. If you become the leader of the companions, any of them can become your follower (I like Aela the Huntress best for her voice acting and her weapon preference). Best thing is they can train you for free since you can take any gold back that you give them.

this is the best news!

ive been rolling with lydia so she can carry all my stuff might ditch her when i get to doing thieves guild stuff.

I tried them for a while, Lydia fell off a cliff and I had an Orc lady whose voice was too harsh for my liking so I 'disposed' of her.

In my main playthrough, my Lydia just sat in the Jarl's place where you meet her until

I tried a melee companion (name started with a B, found in Marthal) and a caster, just to see if it added to my game, and I ended up sending them both home after a few hours. I play a non-stealth 'just run up and crush them with a hammer' melee character, so the melee companion was a) rarely contributing and b) getting in the way of my hammer too often. The mage, OTOH was too powerful a combination with me, as a duo we were cake-walking and I was bummed, because I kind of liked having her around to add a little ranged game into my attacks (I don't use bows or magic either).

It would be nice if you could (or if a mod were made to) scale the damage dealt by companions, if you could reduce them by about 60% they might be a better mix with already-successful characters. If you had a character that was weak-until-unlocking-a-late-perk, it might be another matter altogether.

Also agree with the OP, my first character at least is much more of the wandering alone type anyways.

After my terrible experiences with that damn talking dog, I've never used a companion.

@CaLe said:

I tried them for a while, Lydia fell off a cliff and I had an Orc lady whose voice was too harsh for my liking so I 'disposed' of her.

Heh, funny you mention her voice - it is literally the only thing in Skyrim that has made my dog bark, everything else she has just ignored, even in-game dog sounds, but the Orc's VO upset her for some reason.

They don't call me Han SOLO for nothing...

Ha!

I roll deep when I play. I always have Lydia and an Atronach with me during fights. I'll be happier when I get the ability to have two out at the same time. I played the same way during Bioshock 2 with all my security bots and big daddies stomping a lonely splicer. That set up made the end of the game an all out battle with me chillin as everything fought.

I don't see how you wouldn't use a companion's extra carrying capacity.

@shinboy630 said:

@Cataphract1014 said:

they mess up my stealthing

I don't use them at all for this very reason.

@shinboy630 said:

@Cataphract1014 said:

they mess up my stealthing

I don't use them at all for this very reason.

Same here. Played around with them a bit, but since they don't stealth, I don't keep them around.

I killed Lydia by mistake and since then I haven't had another for the 44 hours I have played so far. I could have re-loaded my save but for some reason I kept on going.

I'm rolling with the woman who was previously overlooking the shrine of Azura. We make a pretty awesome couple of badass mages.

I had a strict policy of leaving companions so as not to give them a chance to die, but it seems like death is incredibly tough to come by, since even blows that would fell me in one hit just make them go down to one knee where they can either regenerate on their own or I can heal them. Never had one die outright. The other reason I like to make them hang back a little is because it soaks up opportunities for you to gain skill points when they're around killing the bad guys.

Then again, companions make great pack mules in a game where you're constantly at your weight limit. That has to be the main reason I keep them around.