Xbox 360 Lydia - carrying less

[Tryn]

I'm relatively new to Skyrim so I may be missing something, but I'm suddenly noticing that when I take a staff from Lydia to recharge it that I'm no longer able to give it back - she's carrying too much. Her inventory is getting pretty skimpy. In researching this, I see that some are saying there's a bug which causes the weight of her original inventory to be continually added every time she's dismissed and rehired. Is this true? If so, is there a work-around?

 

[JClarke1953]

I hadn't noticed that, but then, for some reason, I didn't have to recharge anything I gave her to hold. When I ended up with Serana, that changed, and I do have to charge up enchanted weapon's. And I've seen a weight limit, but I wonder if that corresponds to the amount of stamina my char has. As I've raised my Stam, her's has seemed to increase as well. either that or it's because she's a Vamp Lord's daughter?

 

[Dagmar]

Followers have a bug where every time you dismiss them they will respawn their invisible default inventory. For Lydia this would be her armor, bow and shield. If you dismiss them enough times they will eventually become overencumbered with multiple sets of invisible default inventory. For game console players there's nothing you can do about it either unless you have the Pickpocket perk Perfect Touch which allows you to lift equipped items off of NPCs. You can still have them pick up items you leave on the ground though. When followers are overencumbered like this they are also often unable to fight.

 

[Tryn]

Wow! Thanks for the info. It seems an easy bug to fix. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Medea]

If your follower is a spouse or shop owner, you might also be able to buy their default inventory from them.

 

[Janus3003]

Would the Wabbajack exploit work? Or does that only affect their stats and not their inventory?

 

[Dagmar]

The Wabbajack resets the NPC. It doesn't affect their inventory.

 

[JClarke1953]

When i had Lydia, and as we traveled from quest to quest, I'd give her gear that I couldn't hold. After we both got close to our carry limit, I'd get us to a Trader/!erchant. Then I'd ask to make an exchange with her, and take her original gear, as she'd be using whatever armor/weapon's etc that I'd traded with her. Then I'd sell her original gear, and she'd be wearing/using what I'd given her, which was way better that what she had. She still has what I gave her, even though, because of some glitch that prevents me from dismissing Serana.

Also, I've done the same with Serana, give her good gear/weapons, sell what she'd stopped using, so now she follows wearing the enchanted armor, uses enchanted weapons (and these, as opposed to Lydia), I have to recharge the weapon's.

 

[Tryn]

When i had Lydia, and as we traveled from quest to quest, I'd give her gear that I couldn't hold. After we both got close to our carry limit, I'd get us to a Trader/!erchant. Then I'd ask to make an exchange with her, and take her original gear, as she'd be using whatever armor/weapon's etc that I'd traded with her. Then I'd sell her original gear, and she'd be wearing/using what I'd given her, which was way better that what she had. She still has what I gave her, even though, because of some glitch that prevents me from dismissing Serana.

Also, I've done the same with Serana, give her good gear/weapons, sell what she'd stopped using, so now she follows wearing the enchanted armor, uses enchanted weapons (and these, as opposed to Lydia), I have to recharge the weapon's.

Whenever I tried removing her original inventory it wouldn't allow it.

 

[JClarke1953]

And, it seems so far that Serana can carry a lot! I had her carry two "enchanted" Orc shield's, plus the ebony one she'd been using, enchanted battle axes and swords, plus a couple of my staffs/enchanted clothing. Not to mention Dragon bones and scales to sell.