Not all Skyrim followers are created equal; in fact, some are so terrible that players should avoid recruiting them entirely. With over 70 followers to choose from, players are spoiled for choice, but that does mean that some of those available will not be the best. In fact, some of Skyrim’s followers are pretty useless.

There are many NPCs throughout Skyrim that the Dragonborn can recruit as a follower. Players can do this either by completing a quest for them, doing them a favor, or simply paying them if they are mercenaries. Followers can be useful to have when facing multiple enemies, and a skilled ranged follower is perfect for taking down dragons.

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Some followers are helpful either because of their skills or because they are set as essential and cannot die. However, some travel companions lack the skill or strength to ultimately stand up to the Dragonborn's enemies and are just plain useless. Here are some Skyrim followers that players might want to avoid recruiting.

Roggi Knot Isn't Worth Recruiting In Skyrim

Roggi Knot-Beard is a Nord miner who lives and works in Kynesgrove, directly south of Windhelm. Roggi can be recruited as a follower after completing his underwhelming Skyrim side quest, the creatively named “Find Roggi Knot-Beard’s Ancestral Shield,” where players must retrieve Roggi’s shield from a randomized dungeon. After bringing it back, Roggi will teach the Dragonborn “some blocking techniques”, players will gain one point in Block, and he will become available as a follower or spouse.

Roggi makes a decent spouse but a terrible follower due to his lack of combat skills. Roggi’s morale is set to average, which means that when he takes enough damage, rather than going to one knee like tougher companions, he will simply flee. Roggi is also a law-abiding member of society who will refuse to commit any crimes making him especially useless for Dragonborns looking to be the bad guy of Skyrim.

Topping off Roggi’s mediocre stats are his combat skills or lack thereof. Roggi is one of only three followers available in Skyrim who are classed by the game as “citizen,” and his skills and stats reflect this. Roggi’s primary skills are in crafting (Alchemy, Enchanting, and Smithing), and his level cap is set at 20. This means even at his max level he will still only have 208 health making him one of the weakest followers in the game.

Leave Skyrim's Sven At The Inn

Sven is a Nord Bard who lives with his mother in Riverwood; often the first town players visit after escaping Helgen. Sven can be recruited by completing the easy to ignore Skyrim side quest “A Lovely Letter” and siding with him instead of Faendal. After helping him woo Camilla Valerius, Sven becomes available as a follower and as a steward with the Hearthfire DLC.

Related: Skyrim: Why Riverwood's Faendal Is Always A Better Choice Than Sven

Sven is better suited to being a steward as he is a lousy follower. Like Roggi Knot-Beard, Sven is classed by the game as a citizen, and his primary skills are not combat orientated. Sven’s level cap is also set to 20, which gives him the same low health as Roggi.

Sven has no armor due to his citizen class which means players will have to fully equip him if they intend to use him in combat. However, just like Roggi, Sven will flee if injured in battle, making him utterly rubbish in a tough fight in Skyrim. Players should leave this Bard in the Sleeping Giant Inn.

Adelaisa Vendicci Wears Armor In Skyrim For Show

Adelaisa Vendicci is an Imperial and a member of the East Empire Company. She can be recruited after completing the quest “Rise in the East,” where the player must aid the East Empire Company in dealing with some pirate problems. After the quest is finished, Adelaisa is available as a follower and a steward with the Hearthfire DLC.

Along with Roggi Knot-Beard and Sven, Adelaisa is one of only three NPCs in Skyrim to be classed as a citizen rather than a combat role. This means that despite her supposed combat role in “Rise in the East” and her armor Adelaisa is actually rubbish when it comes to fighting. Adelaisa has a slightly higher level cap than Roggi and Sven, with her max level being 25, but that still makes her one of the weakest companions for any Skyrim player.

Rieklings Of Skyrim Are Funny (But Not Great)

Rieklings are small creatures that live on the island of Solstheim, and players will encounter them during the Dragonborn DLC. Players have the option to rule over a Riekling tribe in the quest “The Chief of Thirsk Hall,” first by helping the little goblin-like creatures keep the mead hall they took from the Nords and then usurping the current Riekling Chief. Once he is dead, the other members of the tribe will recognize the Dragonborn as their leader, and the player will be able to use any of them as followers.

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While this sounds great, having an army of tiny warriors, it isn’t much fun in practice. Rieklings are actually quite weak, with standard Riekling being a set level six and the highest level being the Riekling warrior at a measly level 23. Rieklings prefer to use ranged attacks, using brutal-looking spears in Skyrim, but the damage they do isn’t worth bringing them into battle. To top it all off, they don’t speak, so traveling with them is like journeying with an angry silent toddler.

Skyrim's Dogs Make Better Pets Than Fighters

To recruit a stray dog as a follower, players must aid them in a fight, usually against a pack of wolves or a troll. After all the enemies are dead, “speak” to the dog and it will become the Dragonborn’s new follower. Stray dogs can be found through random encounters all over Skyrim, and one of the earliest players might find out is after exploring the trail up to the left of the cave exiting Helgen Keep.

However, this is a bad idea as even the best dogs in Skyrim make awful followers. Stray dogs have a level cap of 25 and do limited damage. As dogs, they obviously have no ranged attacks and cannot be equipped with any armor, making them very squishy companions. Dogs in Skyrim also have hitboxes larger than themselves, making it very easy to hit them in combat accidentally. It goes without saying that seeing their furry friend die has broken many a player’s heart.

There is also a glitch which means in the event that the dog dies while a follower, its corpse may follow the Dragonborn wherever they go. It will come alive briefly to attack enemies, then collapse and slide along the ground once more. Needless to say, players should spare themselves this trauma and just not recruit any stray dogs - at least not for fighting.

All of Skyrim’s followers have their own pros and cons, so players choose which ones they want carefully, often based on their playthrough. While players might select some for their personality, others might be chosen for their backstory or simply because the player likes them. There are many strong and skilled followers to choose from in Skyrim, so players will not miss out on skipping over any of these.

Next: Skyrim's Strongest Mage Followers