Follower died?

[CoolLew]

Oh no, Lydia died! That’s never happened before. I’m playing Survivor Mode, is that why?

[Scrogdog]

No. Followers can certainly die unless they are tagged as essential. Some only have the tag temporarily. Mostly that means until their quest line ends.

[peppermint hollows]

Nothing to do with Survival Mode. Followers (barring only a few exceptions) can all die while following you. Most followers are marked as "Protected" when following you - this means that normally, they cannot be killed by other NPCs, but they can be killed by the player. When they reach zero health, they will not die, but will instead get on their knees for a short period of time while they recover health. However, it's quite easy for them to die from stray, accidental hits from the player during this state. You probably accidentally hit her, or damaged her with an area of effect attack, or poisoned her by some means.

[ĿIFE oƒ ƤIE]

Lydia cant carry your burdens AND the burn scars from your balls of fire, go easy mate.

[FauxFurry]

Originally posted by peppermint hollows:

Nothing to do with Survival Mode. Followers (barring only a few exceptions) can all die while following you. Most followers are marked as "Protected" when following you - this means that normally, they cannot be killed by other NPCs, but they can be killed by the player.

The part about them being Protected while following the Dragonborn bears with a bit more emphasis as they will be entirely vulnerable when sent off on their own, something that I recall learning about when receiving a letter of inheritance from an Orc follower when sending him back to the stronghold. Always travel to the follower's home range before cutting them loose.

[CoolLew]

Originally posted by peppermint hollows:

Nothing to do with Survival Mode. Followers (barring only a few exceptions) can all die while following you. Most followers are marked as "Protected" when following you - this means that normally, they cannot be killed by other NPCs, but they can be killed by the player. When they reach zero health, they will not die, but will instead get on their knees for a short period of time while they recover health. However, it's quite easy for them to die from stray, accidental hits from the player during this state. You probably accidentally hit her, or damaged her with an area of effect attack, or poisoned her by some means.

Good information here, thanks