Adventuring in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered can be a lot of fun, but it’s also dangerous, so having a helping hand is always useful. For this, you can get help from followers, who will back you up in battle and make dungeon delving feel just that little bit less lonely. While not every follower is proficient in combat, most are great for distracting large groups of enemies, especially when playing as a spellcaster or squishier build.

Although there are plenty of temporary followers who will assist with various quests in Oblivion Remastered, only a handful of followers are available permanently. Most of these are unlocked after completing specific quests, and after speaking with them, they can be recruited into your service. Unlike their Skyrim counterparts, followers in Oblivion cannot upgrade their equipment or be given items to carry when you become overencumbered.

The Adoring Fan

Fun But Useless In Combat

The Adoring Fan is perhaps the best-known Oblivion NPC, with his beaming face and enthusiastic demeanor. This follower can be recruited after you’ve completed the Arena matches and questline and become Grand Champion. After your final victory against the Gray Prince, the excitable bosmer will be waiting for you outside the Arena, offering to worship the ground you walk on. From there, you can agree to let him follow you around as you embark on saving Cyrodiil.

The Adoring Fan is an utterly useless follower who will run and hide as soon as you enter combat, although he will hold a torch to illuminate dark areas when exploring. He is not set to essential and can be killed, either by you or enemies, but will respawn after three in-game days. Honestly, I find him extremely irritating, but there are others out there who love his comments and like him to keep them company as they travel.

Atronachs

Choose From Three Elemental Summons

After leaving the sewer and venturing out into the world for the first time, you’ll get a quest for Frostcrag Spire. This is part of the Wizard’s Tower DLC now included in Oblivion Remastered, and you will need to travel to the tower, found just to the east of Bruma. Once you have access to the tower, you will be free to use the Atronach Altar to summon one of three atronachs.

The altar is in the main room as you enter the tower, and there are three elemental atronachs to choose from: flame, frost, and storm. To use the altar, you will need to bring three fire salts, frost salts, and void salts, depending on which atronach you want as a follower. Using each atronach has its own pros and cons, such as the Flame Atronach being fire resistant, while the Frost Atronach does the most melee damage.

Battlehorn Man-At-Arms

Dependable & Easy To Acquire

Another permanent follower that can be gained through DLC content is the Battlehorn Man-At-Arms, one of four generic knights found in Battlehorn Castle. To be able to recruit the Man-At-Arms, you will need to travel to Battlehorn Castle, located directly west of Chorrol. When you arrive, the castle will be under attack, and the quest “Battlehorn Castle” will begin. After defeating all four marauders, you will be told that the previous Lord of the castle died during the attack, and you are the new lord of Battlehorn Castle.

Battlehorn Castle comes with two Men-At-Arms initially, with a further two available after purchasing the Barracks Upgrade.

Inside, you will find the Battlehorn Men-At-Arms patrolling the castle, and simply speaking to one of them will unlock the option to recruit them. The Men-At-Arms wear full sets of steel armor and are great tanks. The Men-At-Arms are not essential and can die; however, they will respawn and be re-recruited back at the castle. You should take care, though, not to get all four killed before they have had a chance to respawn; otherwise, they will no longer respawn at all.

Castellan Athon/Battlehorn Castellan

A Worthwhile Upgrade To Battlehorn Castle

Similar to the Battlehorn Men-At-Arms, Castellan Athon is available by completing the Battlehorn Castle quest to claim the stronghold. After clearing out the attackers and being declared the new lord, you will need to travel to the Imperial City and find Nilphas Omellian in the Market District. This dunmer trader has several upgrades for Battlehorn Castle available, and the first choice should be the Barracks, which will add another two Battlehorn Men-At-Arms to the castle as well as a new commander for them.

Unlocking the Barrack will have Castellan Athon join the stronghold, and the retired Legion officer can be found patrolling the castle when you return. Athon will be equipped with a set of steel armor, along with a leveled sword and bow; however, he is not essential and will not respawn if killed. If Athon is killed, you can get a replacement Battlehorn Castellan from Nilphas in the Imperial City.

Dark Brotherhood Murderer

Gives The Most Options For A Follower

Source: Bethesda

If you are planning a less-than-lawful playthrough of Oblivion, then joining the Dark Brotherhood is a must. The shadowy assassins’ guild has an excellent questline and some of Oblivion’s most memorable moments and NPCs. After completing the entire story and becoming a member of the Black Hand, you will be able to recruit Dark Brotherhood Murderers to join you in your travels. The Murderers can be found in the Cheydinhal Brotherhood Sanctuary, with three different Murderers to choose from.

The first is known as an assassin, and will appear as a male khajiit who will fight in a similar way to a warrior with shortswords. The second is a mage, who will appear as a female breton and will fight using various spells. The final Murderer is an archer, who appears as a male imperial and is armed with an iron bow and arrows. Each of the Murderers is equipped with a set of shrouded armor and a shrouded hood.

Dark Seducer Escort/Golden Saint Escort

Solid But Limited To One Location

The Shivering Isles DLC transports you to Sheogorath’s realm in Oblivion and tasks you with fighting Jyggalag and ending the Greymarch. The entire questline is brilliantly strange and has some of the weirdest characters and quests in Oblivion. It also gives you the opportunity to recruit either a Dark Seducer or a Golden Saint escort to help you in the Shivering Isles.

Both escorts will be available after the conclusion of the main quest and can be found next to the throne. Although their attitudes and looks are very different, the skill set of the escorts is more or less the same, and who you have traveling with you will come down to which faction you prefer. These followers are not essential but will respawn. However, it’s important to remember that the escorts cannot leave the Shivering Isles and return with you to Cyrodiil.

Knight Of The Nine

Some Of The Best Followers To Have

The Knights of the Nine DLC for Oblivion Remastered is a great adventure that also has some of my favorite rewards. As the name suggests, the storyline focuses on the nine Divines of the Cyrodilic Empire who are under attack by a vengeful Ayleid sorcerer. After completing the questline, you will be able to recruit any of the eight named Knights of the Nine to serve as your follower.

The original named Knights are: Sir Brellin, Sir Lathon, Sir Gukimir, Sir Geimund, Sir Carodus, Sir Thedret, Sir Areldur, and Sir Avita.

The Knights are great followers, with decent gear and excellent skill sets, including the ability to heal. The original named Knights are not essential and can die, but will be replaced by unnamed generic Knights. However, I recommend trying to keep the original Knights alive, as they are much more useful. The unnamed Knights are much weaker than the originals, although they do have the benefit of being respawning.

Mage Apprentice

Powerful Support Followers For Any Situation

If you are playing as a character who prefers to be on the frontline, then having a follower who can support you in battle can be fantastically beneficial. Luckily, some of the best permanent followers in the game for support are available in the form of the Mage Apprentices. To recruit a Mage Apprentice, you will first have to join the Mages Guild and complete the questline to become the new Arch-Mage.

Each apprentice has a variety of spells they can use, made up of Destruction, Restoration, Illusion, and Summoning spells. There are ten Mage Apprentices in total to recruit, divided into two groups of female bretons and male imperials. Due to the bretons being more magically inclined, I recommend choosing one of the three female apprentices for tougher fights, although any of the Mage Apprentices are fantastic to have at your side.

Ushnar’s Skinned Hound

A Loyal Undead Companion

Finally, there is Ushnar’s Skinned Hound, who is available as a quest reward from one of the Shivering Isles side quests. Speaking with Ushnar gro-Shadborgob in the Crucible district of New Sheoth, he will explain his fear of cats and offer the quest “Ushnar’s Terror”. There are a few ways to complete this quest, but once done, Ushnar will give you one of his ‘old’ dogs, a skinned hound.

Because of his fear of cats, Ushnar’s quest is unavailable to Khajiit players.

The Skinned Hound is an ugly but good boy who will happily follow you around and fight for you. Unlike other Oblivion Remastered followers, the hound cannot be told to wait, meaning that once it is your companion, it’s there until it dies. Once the Skinned Hound does die, it will not respawn. Its corpse is permanent, however, which makes it a disgusting but useful storage container in Oblivion Remastered.