Picking the right follower can transform a Skyrim playthrough from decent to unforgettable. Your companion shares your burden in combat, handles dirty work, and sometimes becomes your closest ally in the frozen wastes. But not all followers are created equal, some are genuine damage dealers, others tank threats like brick walls, and a few bring unique perks that enhance your entire build. Whether you’re running a stealth archer, a destruction mage, or a sword-and-board warrior, the follower you choose matters far more than most players realize. This guide ranks the absolute best Skyrim companions based on actual combat performance, utility, and how well they synergize with different playstyles.
Key Takeaways
- The best Skyrim followers like Serana and Mercer Frey excel because they combine strong damage output with tactical combat AI and abilities that complement your playstyle.
- Serana stands as the overall best follower for versatility, offering conjuration magic, healing, destruction spells, and meaningful character development throughout the Dawnguard DLC.
- Melee warriors Mjoll the Lioness and Aela the Huntress dominate in different scenarios—Mjoll tanks heavy hits while Aela provides flexible DPS with bow proficiency and werewolf transformation.
- Early game followers like Lydia and Uthgerd remain viable throughout your entire playthrough when equipped with quality enchanted gear, proving that proper equipment matters more than follower selection.
- Match follower strengths to your character’s weaknesses: pair tank companions with ranged builds, magic users with melee damage dealers, and avoid heavy armor followers in survival playthroughs to reduce maintenance costs.
What Makes A Great Skyrim Follower
Why Follow Recommendations Matter
The best Skyrim followers are those who don’t just tag along passively. You want companions with solid damage output, reasonable survivability, and ideally perks or abilities that complement your character. Think about DPS, crowd control, utility, and whether they can hold a lane while you focus on high-priority targets.
Follower recommendations become even more important when modding. Popular mods like Amazing Follower Tweaks completely overhaul follower AI and customization, letting players fine-tune behavior patterns and equipment. The modding community has created countless enhancements to fix vanilla AI issues, giving you tools to optimize your companion’s performance.
Certain followers synergize better with specific builds. A heavy-armor warrior benefits from tank-focused companions who flank enemies, while a ranged archer pairs well with a melee fighter who absorbs hits. The interplay between your skills and your follower’s strengths creates emergent gameplay that vanilla followers often can’t deliver alone.
Mercer Frey: The Thief Master With Hidden Depths
Mercer Frey is one of Skyrim’s best-kept secrets as a follower. After the Thieves Guild questline, recruiting him unlocks a companion with exceptional damage output and stealth capability. His dual-wield dagger attacks deal consistent DPS, and he scales well into late game with the right equipment.
What makes Mercer stand out is his AI. Unlike some followers who rush headfirst into danger, Mercer uses tactical spacing and engages at medium range when possible. Equip him with quality enchanted daggers, preferably with poison damage or soul trap, and watch him eviscerate enemies. His backstab damage multiplier against unsuspecting foes is legitimately powerful.
The only drawback: getting him requires completing the Thieves Guild and finishing some later questlines. But for players who prefer stealth-oriented playthroughs, Mercer becomes absolutely essential. His sneak bonus and light-armor proficiency mean he won’t weight you down with heavy gear requirements. Pair him with skyrim marriage to make the relationship permanent if you want long-term commitment.
Serana: The Vampire Companion Everyone Needs
Serana stands as arguably the best overall follower in Skyrim. Available after starting the Dawnguard DLC, this vampire companion brings versatility, compelling character depth, and legitimate combat prowess. Her conjuration magic summons atronachs, her restoration spells heal herself and allies, and her destruction spells damage enemies, she’s essentially a hybrid mage with no weaknesses.
Serana doesn’t judge your vampire status, making her the obvious choice if you’re running a dark mage build. Her magic scales with her level, and she’ll outlast most followers in extended dungeon runs. She blocks incoming damage via conjured summons while outputting respectable spell DPS.
More importantly, Serana has actual character development. She’s not a blank slate, she comments on events, remembers conversations, and her relationship with the player evolves meaningfully throughout the Dawnguard DLC. For players seeking companions with personality beyond “follower stats,” Serana delivers genuine roleplaying depth alongside mechanical excellence.
Mjoll The Lioness And Aela The Huntress: Melee Warriors Dominate
Mjoll the Lioness and Aela the Huntress represent the pure warrior archetype done right. Mjoll wields heavy two-handed weapons and tanking plate armor, absorbing damage while you deal burst. Aela uses one-handed weapons and light armor, offering DPS over bulk. Both scale excellently into late game with proper gear investment.
Mjoll works best paired with ranged builds. Her heavy armor and Crusader’s Strike mentality means she’ll jump into the thickest enemy clusters and hold them while you rain arrows or spells from safety. She’s essentially a mobile shield that happens to deal respectable damage.
Aela brings bow proficiency on top of melee capability, giving you a companion who flexes between roles situationally. Her werewolf form (if recruited post-Companions guild questline) transforms fights instantly. Equip her with quality two-handed swords or axes, and she’ll match or exceed most players’ damage output. For pure mechanical effectiveness without complexity, Aela is arguably easier to optimize than Serana because her needs are straightforward: good gear and she’ll carry.
Both companions are available relatively early, making them solid choices for fresh playthroughs. The best bows in Skyrim pair especially well with these two, they’ll use quality ranged gear if you supply it, multiplying your overall damage.
Lydia, Uthgerd, And Other Early Game Powerhouses
Lydia gets unfairly criticized. As your starting follower, she’s competent for Bleak Falls Barrow and early Whiterun quests. Given decent gear and levels, she becomes a solid tank that absorbs damage without constant micromanagement.
Uthgerd the Unbroken is the hidden gem of early game followers. Recruited from the Drunken Huntsman after defeating her in combat, Uthgerd starts with higher base stats than Lydia and displays superior combat AI. She’s aggressive without being reckless, positioning herself strategically rather than sprinting into suicidal charges.
The key to making early followers work: equip them properly. Hand Lydia or Uthgerd enchanted steel plate armor, a sharp war hammer, and a shield. Their damage output scales directly with gear quality. Too many players treat starting followers as disposable, abandoning them once Serana or other “better” options unlock.
For pure accessibility, neither rival Mercer or Serana. But for minimal setup, recruit, equip, deploy, early followers remain viable throughout most playthroughs. Many roguelike players intentionally stick with Lydia to add roleplay authenticity, proving that optimal gear matters more than follower choice itself.
Picking The Right Follower For Your Build
Match follower strengths to your weaknesses. Running pure destruction magic? Pick a melee tank like Mjoll who frontlines while you cast spells. Playing stealth archer? Serana’s summons create distraction while you headshot from shadows. This complementary approach maximizes party efficiency.
Consider equipment limitations. Heavy armor followers need constant maintenance, repair costs scale with playtime. Light armor companions like Mercer reduce upkeep burdens. Followers using magic don’t need equipment obsession, making them flexible for permadeath or survival playthroughs.
Platform matters minimally for base game followers. Skyrim runs on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
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S, and Nintendo Switch, all versions support the same core followers. Mods expand options dramatically on PC and Switch, with mods like Amazing Follower Tweaks available across multiple platforms.
Don’t underestimate companion synergy with specific armor sets. A follower wearing the best Skyrim armor compounds their effectiveness exponentially. A heavy-armor warrior in daedric plate hits harder and tanks more than one in steel. The gear gap is the difference between an adequate follower and an unkillable tank.
For Skyrim follower mods, PC players gain access to overhauls completely reimagining companion mechanics. These introduce new followers, tweak AI, add dialogue, and enable features like dual followers. Modding removes constraints of vanilla companions, though unmodded runs often prove these base followers sufficient for any difficulty.
