Custom follower questions

[ProjectRender]

I have managed to create a custom follower,he is an orc and ended up with 6 spells, con. frost,fire,storm and the starting destruction spells. Problem is he will only use 1 type of destruction spell. I understand only casting flame atronach because of mana issues at his current lvl, but he is using sparks, the spell that uses the most magicka. However he will use the staff I placed in his inventory so I know he isn't bugging on the swapping. Any thoughts/ideas to why he wouldn't at least cast another spell?

 

I set him to forsworn briarheart armor and no weapons in his inventory, but when I found him in game he was wearing iron armor and had a bow equipped. Anything I need to check or change for him to wear he armor selected for him?

[gasti89]

About the spells he uses, check his Class and CombatStyle.

 

Go in the object window and locate his style and class and have a look a them.

 

I never created mage classes, so i don't know what you will find. But for melee classes there are some values you can edit (like the tendency to 2h or 2w)

 

About him having iron armor and a bow, have you set the forsworn armor as his default outfit?

 

The bow could be the bug where all the followers have a bow by default, but i don't know where it comes from (inventory part or faction related).

[David Brasher]

In Oblivion there was no real way to make NPCs use the particular spells you gave them. If you gave them six spells, they were likely to use some of them frequently and to never use some of them. Some spells are just never used by NPCs. The game's AI system will not support them, and only the player is smart enough to use them. So if an NPC is using a spell you don't want them to use, then take it away. If they won't use the spells you want them to use, try taking away all their others. Try boosting their skill level and magicka reserves. Mess with their combat style. Try giving them similar spells to the ones that don't work. Maybe you will find one that they will use.

[jet4571]

the spell list order is an important factor as well. if you want them to use a defense spell you put the defense spell higher on the list(usually top). the first destruction spell on the list will be the one they will use the most but they will swap to another if it is needed. You can give them all three types of a high level or a low level destruction spells 1 ice, fire and lightning but they need to be grouped together with the preferred spell at the top of that group. They will swap to one of the other if the enemy is more vulnerable to it. example having a mage that uses ice spells fighting a nord, the mage may swap to a fire or lightning version.

 

The spell list should be in this order:

 

1. defense/healing spells

2. conjuration

3. weaker destruction

4. the best destruction

[tetradite]

Thanks jet, new info to me and very useful.

 

RE, what armor weapons are equipped - yes it sound slike you have added the armor to his inventory when you need to make it his default outfit.

 

Also bear in mind that not all weapons will necessarilly be equipped when they 'should' be - e.g I have made a khajit who is dual-wielding with 2 scimitars. When I ask him to follow me, and draw my weapon he will only pull out 1 scimitar, but the minute he gets into combat he does draw the 2nd one too.

 

Combat style may also have a bearing on what weapon is equipped, if your NPC has a ranged combat style then that may be why he has a bow equipped - with a ranged combat style a bow is his preferred weapon, and if you don't have a mod which removes the follower bow then he will always have a bow on him which does not appear in the inventory.

Edited May 7, 2012 by tetradite

[ProjectRender]

Wow a lot of info, appreciate all that. I never really thought of the spell order but it makes sense, and I had no idea there were preferred spells with the A.I. Whats a good combat model for des, conj, and resto? I don't know if there is a specific way of casting and attacking for each individual setting, but if there is a list available for them(unlikely) I would be leaps and bounds ahead with that. Since this was bumped I'm just going to edit and use it as a base post to help me with the creation kit, great info. and helpful replies, thanks again!

 

-In the inventory tab I have been sifting through the preset outfits and noticed you cant add/subtract the equipment it adds for you. Is there an option to choose the starting equipment, or can I just add it to his inventory and use the amazingfollowertweaks mod to make them equip it?

 

-Also about the clothing issue, I have it set to forswornarmormelee. When I approach and talk to him he is still in this armor, but as soon as I recruit him he switches to full steel armor and a bow. Any thoughts?

Edited May 8, 2012 by ProjectRender

[tetradite]

 

 

-In the inventory tab I have been sifting through the preset outfits and noticed you cant add/subtract the equipment it adds for you. Is there an option to choose the starting equipment, or can I just add it to his inventory and use the amazingfollowertweaks mod to make them equip it?

 

You can make your own preset outfit with existing armor/clothes parts...

 

- In the Object window, find Items, then Outfit

- Right-click, and 'New'

- Add the name for your outfit

- DRAG clothing/armor items from the Object Window into the blank list area and save

 

When you reopen your NPC your new outfit should be selectable on the drop down.

Edited May 8, 2012 by tetradite

[jet4571]

 

- DRAG clothing/armor items from the Object Window into the blank list area and save

 

 

You can also go one step further and make a level list for each part like clothes, shoes, gloves, hats etc etc and add those inplace of the individual piece. Doing that will make it a different outfit for everyone playing. And if you dont like that one you can use the resurrect command on them and they will have one of the other choices.

 

@Op

 

Here is a tutorial that may help you at some point: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/605633-linking-an-armor-mod-to-another-mod-without-esp-or-esm-master-tip-for-beginners/

 

As for what spell combination is a good one, well that depends on the NPC and what you want them to be able to do. there is no perfect combo and it will vary in it's effectiveness depending on who or what you are fighting.

[ProjectRender]

 

 

-In the inventory tab I have been sifting through the preset outfits and noticed you cant add/subtract the equipment it adds for you. Is there an option to choose the starting equipment, or can I just add it to his inventory and use the amazingfollowertweaks mod to make them equip it?

 

You can make your own preset outfit with existing armor/clothes parts...

 

- In the Object window, find Items, then Outfit

- Right-click, and 'New'

- Add the name for your outfit

- DRAG clothing/armor items from the Object Window into the blank list area and save

 

When you reopen your NPC your new outfit should be selectable on the drop down.

 

Thanks for the tip, I created a custom outfit but as soon as I give him the option to follow he reverts over to the steel and bow.

Also, I'm having trouble after resaving over an older file for this. I was trying to keep it simple and only maintain one save for all my editd and just build on it, but when I tweak his stats and I resave it removes him as my follower and he's not in the spawn spot inside the drunken huntsman.

[tetradite]

Thanks for the tip, I created a custom outfit but as soon as I give him the option to follow he reverts over to the steel and bow.

Also, I'm having trouble after resaving over an older file for this. I was trying to keep it simple and only maintain one save for all my editd and just build on it, but when I tweak his stats and I resave it removes him as my follower and he's not in the spawn spot inside the drunken huntsman.

 

Not sure about the bow other than what I said already, but if he has steel armor in his inventory, then when he is an active follower he will equip it if it has a better armor rating than his default outfit (kind of the reverse of what I said about my dual wielding khajiit). Only when he is a follower though, he should revert to his default when you dismiss him. (I assume the game only bothers calculating whether inventory items are better than default items when the NPC is a follower).

 

It isn't generally a good idea to tweak mods part way through a save game, it can cause problems like the one you have encountered (or it can also generate multiple copies of things).

Edited May 8, 2012 by tetradite