OK, I had to edit the previous post. Posting a verifiable observation.
If you use Companion Bows Visible mod: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6520 you can see how many copies of the hunting bow they have. What I tested was; if you removed them all, how do they get them back? Easy answer: They get one copy in their hidden inventory for every time you send them home and ask them to follow you again. So this is why the number of hidden bows is small for followers you used once or twice and many for Lydia or others if you left them home a lot.
You can test this in Breezehome with Lydia by dismissing her and then asking her to follow you after she says she'll go back home. If you take all the bows out of her inventory, and then do this multiple times, she'll have one copy for every time you did.
It also appears that the followers stack hidden as many copies of the gear they start with as you get them to carry. Multiple chest pieces boots etc. Even though you can remove the ones you got them to carry to sell later they have hidden duplicates for each copy you gave. In Lydia's case even though she may never use a shield when you give her a 2-hander, she'll still retain a stack of all the steel shields she's ever carried.
Note though the weight of the additional hidden copies does not effect her carry limit unless you use a mod to show all her gear like: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3951 which is very helpful though still doesn't solve all the issues. As well it immediately in Lydia's case likely overload her if you gave her gear better than her default steel set like Orc or Dwarven as an example.
The two mods I link to though seem to cover the issues best in tandem without breaking immersion and gameplay.
After reading through many comments on all the follower/housecarl mods to fix their inventory issues, I think I may have potentially useful observation that could hopefully lead to a solution. Or I may just be completely wrong in which case ignore this and keep searching for other clues. This isn't verified, just a hunch.
If Beth realized that a companion with a good bow and ammo combo could and would just one-time everything in the game, they likely set a damage cap that the followers would try to stay under through selection of their equipment. It's not so bad when your follower needs to run into battle and start swinging or casting. But if they just snipe everything from a distance then there is nothing for the player to do. Therefor they equip powerful bows with weak arrows and vice versa. It may be a work-around to keep the game fun.
just wanted to add that the code for the hidden s#*! default bow might be slightly different for people so doing a "help hunting 4" to find the specific code for the hunting bow
Well, I released the latest update on Christmas Eve, and only got one comment about CTD with no followup. I will assume this is working as intended and not checking in as often. Enjoy!
Did you check to make sure only one of the Follower...esp is checked? I've been using the potion and arrows option since I posted them up here (using Daedric arrows with a heal pot, but same diff) I only allow Lydia to carry one bow, however, due to the buggy AI weapon selection.
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This mod is very outdated, obsolete and contains corrupt files.
It should be mentioned in the description.
If you use Companion Bows Visible mod: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6520 you can see how many copies of the hunting bow they have. What I tested was; if you removed them all, how do they get them back? Easy answer: They get one copy in their hidden inventory for every time you send them home and ask them to follow you again. So this is why the number of hidden bows is small for followers you used once or twice and many for Lydia or others if you left them home a lot.
You can test this in Breezehome with Lydia by dismissing her and then asking her to follow you after she says she'll go back home. If you take all the bows out of her inventory, and then do this multiple times, she'll have one copy for every time you did.
It also appears that the followers stack hidden as many copies of the gear they start with as you get them to carry. Multiple chest pieces boots etc. Even though you can remove the ones you got them to carry to sell later they have hidden duplicates for each copy you gave. In Lydia's case even though she may never use a shield when you give her a 2-hander, she'll still retain a stack of all the steel shields she's ever carried.
Note though the weight of the additional hidden copies does not effect her carry limit unless you use a mod to show all her gear like: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3951 which is very helpful though still doesn't solve all the issues. As well it immediately in Lydia's case likely overload her if you gave her gear better than her default steel set like Orc or Dwarven as an example.
The two mods I link to though seem to cover the issues best in tandem without breaking immersion and gameplay.
If Beth realized that a companion with a good bow and ammo combo could and would just one-time everything in the game, they likely set a damage cap that the followers would try to stay under through selection of their equipment. It's not so bad when your follower needs to run into battle and start swinging or casting. But if they just snipe everything from a distance then there is nothing for the player to do. Therefor they equip powerful bows with weak arrows and vice versa. It may be a work-around to keep the game fun.
Scenario:
- hunting bow mod .esp
- Lydia also has a glass (epic), dwarven (exquisite), and imperial bow (epic) in her inventory, and additional steel arrows
- the mod-placed hunting bow is still in her inventory
CTD every time when her script has her selecting a bow to attack, without exception.
At least with vanilla Skyrim she would select the dwarven bow and steel arrows in this situation. :\