Skyrim second playthrough: Cheats, nerfs, bugs, cheap tricks, spoilers, followers, and marriage.

NOTE: You might want to skip this post if you haven't gone through the game once.  Possible spoilers.

Yeah I know, I know.  I thought I was done with the Skyrim posts too but I started a secondary character I might have fun sticking with: a Nord mage/tank I named Panzerbjorn.  So far it's been working and it's kind of cool to be using heavy armor and shield with magic.  So here are some tricks I've learned or read about or just stumbled across along with some notes, ideas, and bugs I've come across. 

• Right after getting out of Helgen I hauled ass down to Rivertown and took care the Sven/Faendal quest.  I recommend helping Faendal because you can have him as a companion and as such when you pay him to train archery you can just into his inventory and take your money back.  Plus Sven is just kind of a putz.
• Once you have Faendal following you leg it over to Whiterun, pick up the carriage to Markarth, once in Morthal head Eest/Northeast toward The Lover Stone.  This stone gives a +15% bonus to learning all skills, which is pretty fucking sweet, especially as a lower level character.
• Head back to Markarth and carriage to Riften.  Go to the Temple of Mara and pick up an Amulet of Mara (either for 200 septims or from completing the first of the Mara quest arc).  Having this amulet equipped will enable marriage to certain NPCs (but only one and if they die then tough bananas, no remarriage).
• To avoid death of a follower/spouse I recommend power levelling to 14 and unlocking the immortal Mjoll the Lioness.  As an "essential" NPC she can't be killed which is pretty fuckin sweet, she can dish out whompins.  She'll use a two handed weapon given the chance but her skills lay with one handed melee.  Plus I like her, she makes me laugh.
• I was looking around at other followers and oddly enough J'Zargo is supposed to be a pretty awesome mage companion who specializes in heavy armor, unarmed combat, and doesn't have a level cap. 
• In theory, with Mjoll and by not completeing Alduin's Wall, and with Shadowmere you could have a batshit crazy crew of unkillable NPCs. 
• An awesome thing about Shadowmere is that the beastie is nigh unkillable and won't attack you if you use him as a training dummy for combat skills.  Granted if spam bashing a daemonic horse in the face with weapons, shields, and spells isn't your idea of a good time then,well nevermind.
• Leather bracers are absurdly simple to make en masse to power level smithing - one leather and two strips. 
• Arniel's Endeavour is a Mage College quest that buggy as shit.  In particular if you dual wield the spell that is to be used on that quest then consider the quest null and void.  Stupid bugged quests.
• I've been saving my perk points, which has made combat kind of difficult so far but I figure once I zip through the quests I want I'll be able to distribute them.  I really wish there was a way to redistribute perk points a la Borderlands but unfortunately there isn't, which sucks.

Thrills and chills ladies and gentlemen.  I'm really just replaying Skyrim because I have fuck all else to play right now and it's kind of fun just running around and exploiting the game.