followers refuse to use bows

[Serious295]

Last thing I installed was USLEEP to fix a couple of different bugs, before that they seemed to be working fine.

Now if I present them with only an Ebony bow they equip it out of combat. Then they unequip it and do a Leeroy Jenkins

charge in and use fists. That's a pain as light armor followers quickly get downed.

[anjenthedog]

I play SE (saw and clicked on this from the side panel in the support forums without knowing which flavor of skyrim was involved) However, in general they're "the same game" afaik...

 

Do you use a follower framework? If so, what are your followers set to fight as? Afaik, that can play into it. (although I haven't set any in my recent play vectors and just let them play as they come)

 

My ice mage (Sha fwiw) won't use a bow, but Elwyn will, and so will hikari, as will other "fighter-type" (non-mage) followers I have used in the past. Even Lydia used to once and a while before I relegated her to living her own life (shes just too cloying and preachy for me), although she always favored her broadsword or other two handed weapons.

 

All my followers that do use bow seem to fall back to sword, or axe, or broadsword (etc), or dagger if I take on the role of archer. Although Elwyn still uses hers randomly even when I'm exclusive using a bow or crossbow.

 

FWIW, I've also noticed that they're not terribly fond of enchanted weapons and seem to prefer more modest bows (ie, I give one a hunter's bow and a heavy bow like an ebony or falmer or daedric, they seem to use the hunter's bow more often than not)

[saurusmaximus]

NPCs are level capped at the amount of archery damage they will do, I can't remember the exact number now, but it's like 85, which is why you will often see followers fall back to a hunting bow even when they have a higher-quality bow in their inventory. So that could be part of the reason. Also, if their AI package has them set up as a melee fighter, they will preferentially move in close to fight vs. using ranged weapons whenever they can, even it a bow is the only weapon they have.

[SouprizeAttack]

You can use SIGE InGameEditor in SSE to give them lower skill level in melee weapons and higher skill in archery, which should fix that.