If a bounty is placed on the Dragonborn's head in every region of Skyrim, followers will keep coming up and talking to him over and over and over as if they were guards pulling him over. During this time, if they are asked to follow just before killing them, the Dragonborn will never be able to have another follower as the game thinks the dead follower is still following the Dragonborn. Cicero is one of the best companions you can get in Skyrim for a plethora of reasons. He’s an assassin with incredibly high stats, and he’s got one of the most well-developed personalities in.

1. Skyrim Followers Pushing
2. Skyrim Followers Keep Up Crossword

The world of Skyrim is vast, and exploring the northern provence of Tamriel can be a lonely business at times. Sure, you can fork over 500 gold and retain the services of several good hirelings (see our earlier article Help Wanted: Finding the Best Hirelings in Skyrim), but why not forego a two-legged follower and get yourself a dog? Or better yet, get a hireling and a dog (yep, with a dog you can have two companions at the same time). Just like in the real world, a dog can truly be your very best friend.

Really, I Can Have a Dog?

He followed me home from the Dwemer ruins. Can we keep him?

In last week’s Skyrim Fansite poll, we asked readers if they ever had a dog as a Skyrim companion. Surprisingly, 42% of poll takers didn’t even know that you could have a dog in the game. Part of the confusion might stem from the fact that there are several dogs in Skyrim that cannot become followers (take the dog in Riverwood for example — he’ll bark for you pretty as you please, but there’s not a chance in Oblivion that he’ll follow you anywhere). In fact dogs are the only animals that can become followers, and there are only a few such faithful hounds in all of Skyrim.

Where to Find a Dog

If you’re looking for a dog as a Skyrim companion, you have your choice of a few four-legged friends. These loyal dogs will fight by your side and obey your commands, but they cannot carry your burdens.

Vigilance

Vigilance is a war dog for sale at the stables in Markarth. Actually, he’s the only dog you have to pay for and costs 500 gold (the same as any other hireling). Speak with Banning (he’s usually found outside the Markarth Stables tending the horses). He’ll sing the praises of Vigilance and dogs in general, offering to sell him to you for the right price.

Meeko

Meeko is a dog you find roaming near Meeko’s Shack in the wilderness in Hjaalmarch. Meeko’s Shack is a small building found east of Dragon Bridge and south of Solitude Sawmill. As it turns out, poor Meeko lost his Nord master (died of Rockjoint — his corpse is lying in bed inside the Shack). Once you find Meeko he’ll lead you to his master’s body, and you’ll be given the option to make the dog a follower.

Stray Dog

By chance, you may come across a Stray Dog in your Skyrim journeys. Stray Dogs are random world encounters that typically involve a dog fighting off a pair of wolves. If you kill the wolves (or other enemies) and the dog survives, you can befriend the hound and he’ll become your best buddy.

Barbas

Barbas belongs to Clavicus Vile, a Daedric Prince. Barbas will accompany you on the quest named A Daedra’s Best Friend. The quest begins in Falkreath after encountering a guard who asks if you’ve seen a stray dog running loose outside of town. Without revealing too many spoilers, you basically have to start the quest but **cough, cough** never finish it. Barbas will continue to follow you and he’ll be marked as an “essential character” and won’t die. Having a companion that can’t be killed can be advantageous, but as an “essential character,” Barbas technically isn’t a follower and he’ll trigger the detection eye when sneaking (if you play as a Thief this makes stealing a nightmare).

Advantages of Having a Dog

Having a dog as a Skyrim companion definitely adds interest to the game. As mentioned earlier, dogs are loyal and will fight by your side. In addition to fighting, you can command a dog to stay in one place (“Wait here”) or dismiss him as your follower (“Go away dog. I don’t need you”). Be careful though — if you want to keep your dog, but make him stay in one place for three game days, he’ll leave your service and you’ll receive the message “Your dog has returned home.” If you’re looking for a pet though as opposed to a traveling companion, you can make your dog wait in a house that you own. After three game days he’ll no longer be able to follow you, and he’ll stay in your house indefinitely, giving you a friendly face to come home to after a hard day of dungeon diving and treasure seeking.

Disadvantages of Having a Dog

With the addition of a dog, you can travel the wilds and dungeons of Skyrim with man’s best friend, but there can be disadvantages. Sure, you don’t have to give your pooch a flea bath or buy him a a dog license in Solitude, but fighting alongside a dog can present problems. Not only do dogs tend to rush headlong into battle at the first site of an enemy (Skyrim dogs don’t understand the meaning of stealth), they tend to get in your way more than other followers — bumping into you, setting off traps, and becoming overall nuisances in the heat of battle. Also, they aren’t as resilient as other Skyrim followers. With the exception of Barbas, they can’t soak up a lot of damage and can be killed off somewhat easily.

Final Thoughts

So how about it? Have you ever had a dog as a Skyrim companion? Let us know your thoughts on Skyrim dogs and share your experiences. Also, be sure to check out our Skyrim wallpaper section for awesome HD wallpaper for your PC and electronic devices. Until next time. Keep your eyes to the sky, fellow travelers!

Basic information

Your followers can be divided into four categories:

1) Normal followers - This group consists of people that after joining the team remain as its members for good and the only way to leave them is by ordering them to go away. People from this group can be given simple orders and they can also can receive items from the main character. More information on this group can be found below.

2) Temporary allies - This group consists of people that join the team for a limited period of time. This mostly occurs when completing quests and in these cases you can count on having an additional ally until the quest has ended (without being given a chance to ask that person to join the main character to take part in future journeys).

Skyrim Followers Pushing

3) Animals - Dogs and horses are in this category. Horses don't take part in any battles and the only exception to that rule is a horse named Shadowmere (more information on that animal can be found in the Hints chapter). As for the dogs, they act in a similar way to normal follower, so they follow the main character wherever he goes and they take full part in battles. It's worth knowing that they're counted separately, so by adding a dog to your team you don't have to send away the human follower.

Skyrim Followers Keep Up Crossword

4) Allies summoned or resurrected using magic - This group consists mostly of atronachs and dremora summoned to the battlefield with the help of certain spells, however you can also add the undead to your team thanks to necromancy. The number and the strength of magical followers depends entirely on the main character and what spells he used, however it's worth knowing that you can have more than one ally and that some of the magical creatures you've summoned can remain on the battlefield for good.

I strongly recommend that you always work on improving the strength of your team and that you always try to have as many followers as possible. This is very important especially if you're playing as a thief and as a mage and can't handle yourself on your own. Having allies can make the game easier, because they often distract enemies from the main character.

As I've already mentioned, normal companions follow the main character wherever he goes and you can have a limited control over them. This is achieved by initiating a conversation with an ally and choosing a dialogue option from the list (screen above). Notice that you can order your follower to remain where they are, to do something (you must point the person to a place or to an object) and to take some of the carried equipment from you. The last element is very important, because you can use your followers to carry your things. Furthermore, your followers will automatically use all the items they receive based on their specializations. For example, if your ally is an archer and you give him a good ranged weapon, then he should automatically make an exchange for his current weapon.

You can send away a follower at any time by choosing the last dialogue option from the list. It usually doesn't mean that you won't see that person ever again, because a follower should return to the location where you've first met and this means you will be allowed to ask that person to join the team again in the future. There are a few exceptions to that rule and it's typically about hired mercenaries, because you're paying for their services and they don't join the team as volunteers. I would recommend switching followers from time to time, so that they're best suited for your current style of play. For example, if you want to play as an offensive warrior you should add a defensive mage to your team so that he can heal you and cast protection spells.

Remember that your followers aren't immortal. Once a follower has suffered severe injuries he should kneel down (screen above) and in most cases this results in opponents switching their attention to you (instead of dealing a final blow to get rid of your ally). Your follower should return to full health once the battle has ended, however you can also try healing him when you're still fighting enemy units. Watch out for your own attacks, because they can kill your follower (the same goes with using offensive area spells).

List of followers

Important - Make sure to consult the World Maps chapter of this guide for additional help with finding the locations where potential team members are stationed (you must first find the map of the correct sector and then the number mentioned in the text). Additional hints on how to convince someone to join you (for example - how to complete the companion's quests) can be found in the quest chapters of this guide.