Strange Companion behavior?

[darth_eldritch]

I have Brelyna Maryon as a comapanion. She's a kick ass mage who often fries the enemy before I can get a shot or swing in. She is also an accomplished sneak who works well with my character

Comments

[caudatum]

Oh, yes! I mean, intellectually I knew I wasn't the only one to have a similar (and I hate to call it this) issue but I seriously felt like I had to be the only one to have one of their companions act ten kinds of odd.

My very first companion has been Janessa. I hadn't even known there was such a thing as a Thane at that point or about the NPCs that you could simply fight to get them to follow you, so I hired the first mercenary I'd come across (thankfully I had the coin). She was amazing even if I didn't realize that I could upgrade her armor; I knew about the weapons since I'd offloaded a ton on her pack-mule style and she switched, but my brain didn't make the connect to armor until after she glitched out and returned back to Whiterun (and at that time I didn't know she'd return after a few days and went to find me another follower).

Anyway, Janessa was great to have in battle, always unafraid to jump into battle and even managed to not be a total hindrance even when she got in the way of some of my attacks, but I started noticing a disturbing pattern when I went up against random dragons that swooped in out of nowhere and random encounters on the roads/forests/countryside/mountain ways: Janessa would run the other way and stay gone for most of the battle only to come back either halfway through the enemies health or at the tail-end of the encounter!

I could never figure it out! It was so bizarre and terribly unlike the woman that I'd thought I had hired back in Whiterun. But it kept happening over and over again! Luckily it wasn't every encounter or every dragon so I'd learned to live with the oddity until she finally screwed up and got in my way at a bad moment and fried for her trouble. Still, it was just...weird as heck to be abandoned during fights only to have her come back in like some twisted 'white knight' coming to save me from evil.

Bizarre and oddly entertaining.

[darth_eldritch]

It must be a glitch. Like with Brelyna. She even has lines for the Forsworn and never hesitates to attack them. She usually fries their archers off the walls. But she turned and ran away from this lone Forsworn patrol who didn't even see us. It's so out of character for her.

I really hope they fix this one. She is RP wise the best spouse for my character and I don't see getting another companion for this particular character. Usually they work together so well!

[caudatum]

Aye, I know what you mean. Though I play on the Xbox so I'm unsure if it's a cross-platform glitch that was encoded wonky or if it's just something completely random and linked to their pathing. *le shrug*

And I really should have started out with something more along the lines of RP conscious when I started out, but I was blinded by the shiny, beautiful landscape and story and didn't really get into the 'RP mindset' until I was well into my 20s; by that time my follower deaths numbered 3 due to ineptitude on their part (or programming idiocy because when your companion decides to just throw themselves in front of your swings it can't be anything else...besides an ingrained death wish which is amazing to explore from an RP standpoint).

Though, I did end up marrying my latest companion and my Redguard couldn't be happier even if she thinks her husband is horribly optimistic and upbeat. (Vorstag is very chipper and kind for a mercenary.)

[darth_eldritch]

I'm on xbox, too. Could be one of xbox's many variable glitches.

I think it's really better to explore and get the feel for the game at first, anyways. I just fell into playing this dark elf, being so fresh from playing Morrowind and my favorite Telvanni Dunmer. Dark Elves tend to be my favorite, although I did play a Khajiit warrior in Oblivion that was both a heavy tank and DPS. That cat was tough and I had to scale up the difficulty to have meaningful play with him.

Yeah, no matter what style I'll play, I am going to stick with companions who excell at ranged attacks, be it spell or bow. As I learned from Dragon Age to not even equip the mages and archers with melee weapons, I do the same here. Keep them out of my way. My kid has Darkeethus, an archer sneak, and he works out well, and he doesn't run away. I don't like close quarter combat with companions, something I learned from Oblivion and its annoying "escort this person and keep them alive" quests.

[caudatum]

Quite possibly. I'd just never really thought about it enough to wonder if it was actually a 'real' glitch or just an odd one that was just so random to even bother checking the forums to see if it was a 'problem'. I mean, it's weird, sure, but not damningly so; I don't think it detracts from my experience. Honestly, I kind of made up a little aside in my head about Janessa about her reasons for fleeing then returning so I think it kind of added something in a way.

I've always had an affinity and adulation for close range combat. I adore, nee crave, being able to get right up in an enemy's face to deal as much damage as possible, swords clashing, armor oil and blood in the air. And I tend to choose followers that have the same inclinations though I will admit to loving archer support. In the beginning I hadn't thought, or known really, to check the wiki entries on the available followers and their skill sets. It matters, of course, but I've seemed to pick mostly the one-handed or two-handed types so I just loaded them with heavy armor, shields, and weapons to match and just went to battle (with the exception of Janessa since she was my first and where I learned the difference between skill set and wishful thinking).

My next character I'll be more conscientious and play to both my and my companion's strengths instead of being rather slapdash and rolling with the punches as they come.

[darth_eldritch]

I have to admit that when I first picked up Brelyna she helped immensely with the blood dragons that suddenly showed up. So she's really great in fights. Which is why I don't want her running away. Odds are most of the enemy ahead is relatively easy kill and help isn't always needed, but sometimes you never know.

I do both close combat and ranged sneak attacks. I love popping off enemies with sniper attacks. It's amusing. Sometimes it's satisfying to give some aggravating Forsworn or bandit a face full of axe. In either case a companion who does ranged attacks works well for me.

[caudatum]

I think I find my amusement in ranged attacks rather than really use them for what they're intended for. I mean, granted, I use them when I want to pick enemies off one at a time if there's more than three in a room or I'm going against any kind of strong Magicka user(s), but really -- Take the draugers. I swear they're the dumbest enemies in the game despite how badass they get in certain instances.

I like to sit in doorways or on ledges and just pelt them with arrows and watch them scramble about trying to find me! It's so amusing! Then again, I am terribly easy to please and amuse these days, especially when the pain medication kicks in. Skyrim while riding high on beta blockers and analgesics is nifty.

[darth_eldritch]

Draugr, lol, my character calls them target practice. Pop, pop, pop! How many can he drop within seconds and they don't even know he's there as they stumble in confusion? Or being tricked into traps? Those flammable pink pools are the best!

My sneak is so good, I can sneak up to an inactive draugr without alerting it and pop it with an arrow, "killing" it instantly before it can arise.

They are predictable and amusing, and admittedly they were a bit tougher in Bloodmoon.

Good that you have fun with them!!! Yes, I, too, cackle in glee when I come across draugr, thinking of the fun I will have.

[caudatum]

I do enjoy luring them, and any enemy, into traps. Always a good chuckle. I do it all the time with the swinging wall of spikes traps that are practically everywhere. Those and the flammable liquid pools. So much fun!

I'm really focusing on Sneak and Archery right now, both are only in their upper 70s though (except I believe my sneak is 83 atm. I'll have to check when I log back in to confirm). Not terribly but not exactly great. So, yeah, I can't exactly sneak up into their faces just yet or one shot kill the higher Draugr.

I will admit to dungeon diving just for the draugr encounters. I did a hell of a lot of exploring and just found caves and the like, and just went for it because I enjoyed messing with them. Granted I didn't start actively Sneaking and doing long range attacks, almost exclusively, until recently but I still had fun with it. They're just that dumb and easily lead into horribly obvious traps.

[darth_eldritch]

Ha ha!!!

I'm so used to sneaking (Oblivion) that I do it out of habit. The perks for sneak help a lot. I was getting quite close to the draugr at a lower score (almost master now)

Aren't they? They are hilarious!

[caudatum]

Unfortunately, my Sneak doesn't do me as much good as it ought because of Vorstag. He's just not a sneaker. I could be sneaking passed enemies at a good clip and all of a sudden he shows up in a doorway and they zero in. If I want to get any kind of quality sneak time in I have to send him home to tend house...which I'll be doing all through my Thieves Guild run.

My next character will be a thief build so I'll have a lot more fun next run.

[darth_eldritch]

Yeah, you really need a companion who has sneak as a strong skill. But, with some of those thieve's guild quests you're better off going alone, anyways.

[caudatum]

Yeah. I had planned to ditch my companion when I started both the Thieves Guild and The Dark Brotherhood. And then I married him. He can wait for me while I'm off being devious. xD