Which followers and/or which spouse did you choose?

Well yeees … to get a housecarl, you need to become Thane of a place, which requires buying a house there (hence housecarl).

To go further here: To get Argis as a housecarl, you need to become Thane of Markarth. To become Thane of Markarth, you need to buy a house there, among other things. So it's a definite yes. On the other hand, the Markarth house is not that expensive.
And to get Argis interested in marriage, you, well, need to become Thane of Markarth, too.

yeah, the implications of a "housecarl" just dawned on me hahaha. I also just finished the last quest for the jarl and purchased a house just to check him out. I'm not sure if I want it but had to see how it all worked

I noticed you married Farkas. I just finished up the joining quest and asked him to tag along to get the shield for the jarl to see if I could get the house .

Thanks! (even though I was being a bit stupid )

I thought housecarl was Nordic for bed warmer

I have to say that the best bit of having a spouse is getting an always open, live-in shopkeeper. It's a bit disturbing that she's always got skooma for sale, though. Working with the Khajiit, indeed.

Originally Posted by Jaz
Well yeees … to get a housecarl, you need to become Thane of a place, which requires buying a house there (hence housecarl).

I was given Lydia the Housecarl after doing work in Whiterun I didn't have to buy the house to get her either.

Daniel.

She's the exception though, not the rule. The other housecarls all require a house as far as I know.

I tried out that Marcurio fellow found in Riften. He generally seems far more useful than most due to a combination of magic and martial skills.

I currently use Lydia, but I think I want someone a bit more stealthy, any suggestions?

Daniel.

Originally Posted by darklord
I currently use Lydia, but I think I want someone a bit more stealthy, any suggestions?

Daniel.

Both Jenassa and Borgakh (the Orc girl) have high sneak, as I have seen both use the silent roll perk.

And Jenassa favors light armor.

What I really want is a follower who stays behind or beside me, doesn't run off to fight random things, is smart enough to recognize when they're in between me and my target, and doesn't step on the really obvious trap trigger that I so carefully avoided. Too much to ask for?

@Menigal:
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Good luck on that!

I was using Lydia but than switched to Illia because I thought that magic user companion will better complement my warrior. She performs well most of the time BUT her Wall of Frost AoE slows me (as well as the enemy) down AND, I begin to suspect, that it also damages my PC as well. She also has an annoying tendency to spawn Frost Atronachs in confined spaces!

I just restarted and I learned that

Originally Posted by CountChocula
I just restarted and I learned that

Spoiler

the quest with Faendal and Sven is completely the opposite in this playthrough (this time, Faendal is the bad guy trying to forge a letter, instead of Sven. And Sven is willing to become a follower if you expose the truth.

I´m pretty sure the quest is always the same. Both dudes try to do the same thing.
You can also get a letter from the first one, then tell about it the second one and he´ll give you a letter too - this resulted in me having both letters, but I could finish the quest only using the second letter (iirc) which I´ve found to be bug/oversight.

DeepO is correct, it's always the same. Only being able to use the second letter annoyed me quite a bit, as I wanted to tell her both were being dishonest.

Radient quests at work again. I'm liking the variability, although they both end up being schmucks… Bethesda really needs to have more good guys (and rewards for being good) in their world.

In my furthest play-through I married Eola, and find her to be the best of those I've tried. Yes you do need to use the console command to enable her as 'marriageable' but she has all the appropriate dialogue and options once married. She also makes the best companion for my mundane bow and dagger stealther; some of her summons can clear out a room all on their own.

Of course you might question what she puts in her 'home cooked meals', but as a Khajit I don't have an issue with it…

Does anyone know which followers are best at picking locks?

I recently discovered that Lydia can pick Expert locks. Sven, however, can only pick beginner and adept locks.

I'm currently playing a Nord warrior type who does not believe in picking locks or ranged attacks.

Originally Posted by DeepO
I´m pretty sure the quest is always the same. Both dudes try to do the same thing.
You can also get a letter from the first one, then tell about it the second one and he´ll give you a letter too - this resulted in me having both letters, but I could finish the quest only using the second letter (iirc) which I´ve found to be bug/oversight.

Originally Posted by Maylander
DeepO is correct, it's always the same. Only being able to use the second letter annoyed me quite a bit, as I wanted to tell her both were being dishonest.

I guess perceptively there is a big difference depending on who you talk to first.

The first one you speak to is always going to seem like a bigger jerk, and if you proceed to tell Camilla the letter is forged, the second one doesn't attempt to forge a letter.

During my first playthrough, I talked to Sven first and after helping Faendal to right this egregious wrong, I didn't even know that Sven could become a follower.

During my second playthrough, I talked to Faendal first and after exposing his scheme to Camilla, Sven offered to become my follower. Unfortunately, he does not sing bard songs while he's adventuring with you.

…and Aerin moved in too . I figure, what the hell, the more the merrier, although it is a little awkward to still see Aerin following Mjoll all around my house. I just consider them good friends, no funny business.

How could you turn down Mjoll though? She explained to me on our first "date" (a trip to a local cave to clear out some bandits), that as a young girl her father took her on hunting expeditions to Morrowind, and the cliff racers made for excellent sport . It was instant love. She also has a lot to say for those who are into having companions with something to say. Seemed like she would never shut up .

Who did you marry?