Stopping Followers Using Bows

[eltucu]

The little time i tried to get along with a follower was like this.

 

If the enemy suddenly was at close range, she would pull out her axe. All fine then.

 

the bad thing was when the creature didnt appeard at close range, so my follower would take their extremely crappy bow instead of the daedric one i gave her, and start shooting at the thing. She engaged like a ranger, if the creature came closer, she would run farther to a safe distance, perpetually stuck in using her damn bow!

 

Completely bad AI for a follower that was supposed to use her damn axe. I'd thought that once the dragon was on the floor, she would wield her damn axe and rally at it but nooo, she ran farther. So i sent her to my house in riften.

[Krawll]

I beleive that choosing the right type of follower has a huge effect on how to act in battle.

 

Since i had never heard about Mjoll before, i have no idea what type of fighter she is but from your description, i would assume she is skilled with the bow. If you want pure melee fighters, you should go to the companions and hire eihter Farkas or Vilkas, they are both great warriors and i've never seen eihter of them using bows at all. Although you can't recruit them as permanent followers untill you're done with the main quests and became the Harbinger.

 

I do remember seeing a Mercenary for hire at the Tavern of Markarth i think . He often sits by the fire and tells you that for a fair price , his blade is yours. Just give him 500 $ and he'll join you. I beleive he's a pure melee type but i can't realy confirm that one since i Sacrificed him to Boethiah lol.

[TheRealMissAmber]

I know this is a really old post but if anyone come here looking for a fix i have a solution.

 

IF the follower in question is a custom race you can stop them from ever equipping a bow.

 

What you will need to do is:

 

1. Open the esp in xEdit

 

2. Find the "Race" tab in the array

 

3. Select the race in question

 

4. In the details on the right side scroll down to "VNAM - Equipment Flags (sorted)"

 

5. Double click "Bows" it will turn to a 1 make it a 0

 

6. Double click "Crossbows" it will turn to a 1 make it a 0

 

7. Find the "Non-Player Character (Actor)" tab in the array

 

8. Find the NPC in question

 

9. In the details on the right side scroll down to "DNAM - Player Skills"

 

10. Set "Skill (Marksman)" to 0

 

11. save and quit

 

That should be it. that NPC and race should never use a bow again.

OFC you can play with this, you may just be able to turn it off for that NPC

alone but this is the method i use.

 

as a player you can just use NPC edit but as a mod maker this may come in handy

so your players wont have to.

 

Hope this helps

 

~TheRealMissAmber

Edited February 16, 2021 by TheRealMissAmber

[Moraelin]

Wouldn't it be easier to just make sure they don't get a bow in their inventory?

[TheRealMissAmber]

Wouldn't it be easier to just make sure they don't get a bow in their inventory?

i mean im working on a Conan follower RN and i never gave him a bow and cant find a way to remove it in CK.

so YES i do it would be way easier not to give them a bow for sure. but they pull it out of thin air.

 

there MAY be a ref in CK for that bow that the player cant see but i dont want to dig in refs for a follower (my situation) because that change will cascade across the game. and that would not be my desired effect.

 

for some people that would be perfect but not everyone wants to give up their followers bow for whatever reason.

 

make sense?

[Moraelin]

Hmm, not sure if they actually spawn weapons they're not given (although that does include any levelled lists, inherited stuff, etc) but I suppose they can pick up stuff.

[MFitz56]

Hmm, not sure if they actually spawn weapons they're not given (although that does include any levelled lists, inherited stuff, etc) but I suppose they can pick up stuff.

Not so. All followers will spawn a bow unless you (as the modder) proactively prevent it. Look at any follower in the CK that you may have seen use a bow. The odds are (unless like Faendal they are an Archer type) there is no bow in their inventory.