Hail Lydia

[caralampio]

Maybe I like Lydia too much . Maybe I'm imprinted on her, since she was my first housecarl and companion (I didn't realize until later that Sven or Faendal in Riverwood were recruitable). But I get the feeling that she was given more personality than other followers. Don't you?

I can't help feeling that she gets jealous when I talk to other pretty women, especially when they flirt. Sometimes she bumps me even though we aren't walking, or she turns her back on me. I also feel that she gets more sad and depressed when I send her back home. My heart misses a beat when I enter the bedroom in Whiterun, sometimes with another pretty girl tailing me and she's sitting there, all downcast and drowning her pain in alcohol, and she says with a broken voice, "pleased to see you my thane".

She's the only female companion who is really feminine. I also feel that she's the one who complains less. She has been my companion in about 3/4ths of my total gaming time, and only once has she told me 'damn you' when I involuntarily hit her. Usually it is at most 'watch it'. Others like Aela are much more free with their insults or rebellious attitudes. And she's really positive about carrying your burdens...

I haven't married her yet, because I roleplay that she's my lover. My wife (or, gasp, husband) in Lakeview or wherever, and Lydia back in Whiterun (or better yet, adventuring with me ) However, is this being unfair? She deserves that I make her Mrs. Dragonborn, right?

[HatofMadness]

You feel for Lydia how I feel about Countess Narina Carvain...^_^

[Unionhack]

-looks at my signature-

Hmmm...

Yeah, I never got Lydia much. The snarky voice was enough for me to dump her after a few minutes.

Sven was my first follower in Skyrim. Much preferred him; I was pretty broken up when he died.

[Chaos the N'wah]

Hmm...I never got into Lydia, she was just annoying (though I dragged her around until I found more followers) and I never side with Sven...

My first favorite follower was Kharjo; Since all my characters are Khajiit, it feels right to be journeying together and the occasional hiss or short quip is preferable to long strings of phrases spammed in combat
Then I discovered J'zargo, and while his competitive attitude was annoying at first, he made up for it with his power and survivability (heavy armor mage)
That...and the number of times I've been in dire straights only to have J'zargo crest over a hill, having finally caught up with me, guns ablazin' certainly lifts my spirits
Of course, "By the twin moons" never gets old

[Unionhack]

J'zargo is indeed, without competition, the best follower in all of Skyrim.

I love having multiple follower mods. That way, whenever I want another follower tailing along, I never have to tell J'zargo to go home. Plus I can make him essential and never have to worry about him.

[Dark Spark]

"Oh, Lydia! I've just heard about this wondrous cavern filled with an abundance of treas—"

"—I'll tell you all about it when I get back..."

[Witchery]

Never much liked her. Tbh, there are better female followers: Illia, Aranea, Brelyna, Aela, Mjoll, Serana, etc. Lydia, as with other housecarls. . I find bland and boring. Couple that with her condescending, sarcastic tone. . . she just gets on my nerves and I couldn't imagine traveling Skyrim with her.

And, like those above, I love the multiple follower thing. My limit is two, because by then the game just gets easy on Expert, but I love having my trio of witches (Yvara, Vivienne, Illia) on one character and on another, traveling with an old (yet strangely attractive) vampire and still getting to keep your wife? (Camilla) Awesome.

And I must say. . . J'zargo is one of the most memorable Skyrim characters period.

[Unionhack]

I have an army of 6 followers (3 custom, 2 normal, 1 normal character who isn't meant to be a follower but has been modded to be one), but I play on Master with the Warzones mod, so I can't call it easy. It makes it more fun, if anything, to be able to participate in huge-scale battles with my faithful adventuring crew supporting me.

It almost reminds me of the Adventuring groups of old. I'm talking the Fellowship of the Ring, or the Dragonlance group, except we shall be the Followers of the Dragonborn or something.

Either way, Lydia is quite comfortable sitting alone in Breezehome while we party on the Asteria or in Hjerim.

[AKB]

I don't get the obsession with Lydia. She is nothing special. In my experience virtually all of the companions you can acquire are rather dull, and Lydia is no exception. It's a reflection on one of Beth's worst areas when it comes to development, character creation. They create a ton of characters, but forget to add some depth to ones that should be important like the ones you can marry or get as a companion. There are few exceptions to this (Cicero and Serana being the most obvious ones), but not enough to truly make a difference.

[Dohva.]

Lydia is my Altmer's steward and she's rather a sweet lady. She's pleasant enough with Sylmirie's bratty children and she does chores all the time. Its especially nice to see her hanging out on the deck soaking up the sun or dancing along to the bard's flute.

[philfredobob]

lets see ... lydia ...

well, when i was first made Thane on my first ever playthrough, i turned around and she walks up to me and im thinking ''oh cool, a new quest!! maybe a different main story quest?''. so when she starts telling me about how she is my housecarl, and finally i discover she is a companion, around this time i went ''oh ... well ... ya see .... i .. uh .... hate followers, please leave me alone'' i told her to bugger off back to my house, and never looked back.

eventually, i tried her out. she wasnt that effective in combat, didnt have a personality, and kept getting in the way.

the only followers i did like were J'zargo, Serana, and Erik the Slayer.

[Jo'than]

Haters gonna hate, but...

You really should take Lydia to Solstheim. She has new dialog for a number of things that are unique to the Dragonborn DLC. And when you read a Black Book... heh.

[Sam]

On my first playthrough, i killed Lydia and dumped her body in a Falmer cave.
But then her ghost haunted me at my wedding. Now i just leave her in Dragonsreach.

[Mattbott]

i eventually fired her after she almost continuously told me her tale for the Xth time - DURING the council meeting where the Thalmor, Greybeards, Stormcloaks etc met to decide the fate of Skyrim and i actually lost a bit of dialogue because of it so had to guess the response. I think the Stormcloaks eventually lost Riften because of Lydia lol

so she sulks in Whiterun now

she was a great archer though, used to shoot the fish out of the rivers around me as they attacked as i swam across

all companions annoy me eventually cos of their dialogue .. at least in fallout you could listen to the radio. Perhaps it wouldn't be out of order for the terse Nord to tell his companion to STFU once in a while, like when we're sneaking up on bandits or, as I mentioned, in high level diplomatic talks

[wyldefx]

Lydia was my love interest/spouse during my first few playthroughs. I don't like followers, so never took her anywhere. But I never disliked her. Plenty of other people to hate in the game: Delphine, Maven Blackbriar, Aela the Huntress, etc.

[Eltee]

I liked having Lydia along on my first profile... But then, she got clobbered by a troll and hit by a stray arrow, and fell over a waterfall.

After that, I was terrified of having her die. I never took any Housecarls along. Terrified one of them might die.

In any case, I like Annekke and Mjoll better, anyhow. :'D

[Evil-i]

Let the Housecarls be Housecarls. That's their job. (As for Lydia, I find her stringy Axl Rose coiffure something of a turn-off. Come on Lydia, use some conditioner!)

Personally, I find the best Followers to be the ones who volunteer their services after you've done a favour for them. Honestly, I have no reason to employ anyone other than Annekke. She's just about perfect for my playstyle.

[Dohva.]

Ah, Annekke. :'( Your lovely presence is missed at Windstad Manor. Damn those bandits!

Housecarls aren't so great as followers imo they get in the way too much. I prefer stealthy and magey type followers. Been using Talvas from Tel Mithryn with my archer/thief and he's awesome. Better than...dare I say...Serana. Wiki says he's level 25 but he conjures two different atronachs, raises dead, does ice storm, fireballs, firebolts, lightning, and uses armor. He's a BA.

[Archer]

Lydia's great. I use her in nearly every playthrough because She makes the perfect sacrifice for Boethia.

[Jo'than]

(As for Lydia, I find her stringy Axl Rose coiffure something of a turn-off. Come on Lydia, use some conditioner!)

Fixed it for you:

Spoiler:

What's not to love?

[Eltee]

Today, a friend asked me to carry a bottle of pop and a box of skittles for him. I replied that I was sworn to carry his burdens. :'D

[RoboRob]

I've tried other followers but I always come back to Lydia. The worst one I've had was that orc woman Borak (spelling?); anyway, she made me appreciate Lydia all the more.

[legoless]

I think the Dragonborn dialogue was a nice touch to the character, if a bit random.

[Pedropeter101]

Well, I have deep respect for Lydia. She sacrificed herself by taking down a vampire on a Jarl's errand.
Rayya is a much better follower, with her dual scimitars she's unstoppable .

[jello]

The snotty "I am sworn to carry your burdens" makes me want to sword her in the face sometimes, but for the most part, she stays out of the way and takes her fair share of damage, plus that burden that she carries is quite helpful sometimes. I just wish she didn't make so much damn noise all the time when i'm sneaking.