Enchanted weapons for followers

[askfor]

It has always puzzled me why followers sometimes pick non-enchanted weapon with higher base damage rather than more powerful weapon with lower base damage and enchanted effect which makes it more powerful of the two,

 

Then I noticed that weapons which I enchanted early in the game have their enchantment effect grown more powerful.For example sword with shock effect of 10 has its effect increased to 15, Note, it is the very same piece. I figured out that it is because of my increased enchantment skill.

 

So what about the followers then ? Most of them have low enchantment skill. Therefore, enchantment effect of the weapons might be much less powerful for them. That would explain their choices of weapons I described above,

 

I also noticed that followers have enchanted weapon charge last much longer. That is might also be consistent with above. When you enchant a weapon, you can have stronger effect and less charges or weaker effect and more charges. Perhaps the weapons have more charges for followers, too, so their weapons need to be recharged less often.

 

I'd like to hear what other people think of this theory.

 

[saurusmaximus]

The important part of all of this is Base Damage; NPC's will always favor the weapon with higher base damage in the game, regardless of enchantment (unless the enchantment also raises the weapon's damage rating).

 

 

Then I noticed that weapons which I enchanted early in the game have their enchantment effect grown more powerful

When you view an item in an NPC's inventory, you are seeing the stats as they apply to you, not the NPC. Which is why the damage modifier seems to be increasing; your skill has increased, which increases the damage rating. Note that your enchantment skill only comes into play when you actually enchant a piece of gear. If you enchant a sword with say fire damage of 5pts per hit, and an enchanting skill of 20, the enchantment itself will not get any stronger, even if you get your enchanting up to 100. The strength of the enchantment itself can be affected by perks you (or your follower) aquire or have. See this for further info.

 

 

I also noticed that followers have enchanted weapon charge last much longer

See the above link.

[askfor]

So, you agree that enchanted weapons are less powerful in hands of most of the followers ? I wasn't sure about that.

[saurusmaximus]

Depends on the enchantment, and on whether the follower in question has any added perks. Generally, any weapon that has a Damage Attribute enchantment will be superior to an unenchanted weapon:

 

An iron sword has a base damage of 7. If the same sword has fire enchantment that does 10pts fire damage per strike, that gives you 17 total damage. The only unenchanted sword that gives you more per hit in this case is dragonbone (19 pts). Keep in mind, this is all assumes a level 1 character with no skill points.

 

But like I said, follower's AI isn't smart enough to do the math, so they just use whatever has the highest base damage in their inventory. Your best bet with that is to take away any weapon that is inferior to the one you want them to use, with the caveat that you will periodically have to go back into their inventory to recharge the enchantment.