On occasion Lydia will switch to using a bow, i know it's not related to what i wield as sometimes we both have swords, sometimes we both have bows and sometimes one of us has a sword and the other a bow.
sometimes when i'm killing someone/something me and her have pincer them and when they die i do another attack hitting her or she walks in front of me when i'm using magic or a staff, this gets annoying at times cause i use up energy (especially if it's from a staff) but more importantly it looks bad on me as her wife, blasting her with magic from behind or stabbing her after the enemy is dead (i am aware that spouses are set to essential but it still looks bad)
I am wondering if i can get Lydia to always use her bow since this way she plays a support role. i don't mind having to use a mod to do this.
NOTE: i have all DLC so mod requirements like that are no problem
Best Answer
In the vanilla game; no.
With mods; possibly, depending on the mods that are out there.
Basically there are "Build-types" with the AI in the game, that lean towards certain traits in the character skill tree. Strength, Sneaking, Magic, etc. Lydia is a Strength/Melee character type, therefore she would prefer to use melee weapons.
That being said, if you give an AI a weapon of greater damage output, they will prefer that weapon. So if you take any high-damage melee weapons away from her, and give her a high-damage bow instead, she will prefer the bow. However, with the AI the way it is, this does not have very much functionality, as she is primarily a melee AI, so she'll tend to whip out her sword and swing that around anyway.
So if you want to achieve this, mods are your best bet.
EDIT: You could try using commands, or pickpocketing her to remove her base equipment, leaving her only with her bow and arrows. However, should you give her a melee weapon to carry, she will likely use that instead.