Followers and Companions
If the Doctor has companions, why shouldn’t the Dragonborn?
LE - Nexus Mods Category - Followers & Companions SE - Nexus Mods Category - Followers & Companions
Mod Suggestions
When I first started playing Skyrim (Vanilla on the Nintendo Switch), I NEVER used any followers. I think it seemed “cheaty” to me; like I wasn’t doing everything all on my own, so how could I call myself “The Dragonborn”? That was rather stupid reasoning, but to be fair, the Vanilla followers are honestly more annoying than helpful (in my opinion). However, when I first played a modded game and added Inigo and Lucien, my mind was forever changed. I now usually have a posse of at least 2-3 and sometimes 5-6. Whenever I lose them or leave them behind, especially in the frigid northern regions, I literally feel lonely and as if I am missing something dear to me. My current base team is Inigo, Lucien, and Kaidan (Ranged, Mage, and Melee) and I add in others whenever the fancy strikes: Auri, Sofia, Recorder, Rumarin, Callen, etc. (Those last two are from Interesting NPCs). (I will undoubtedly add more to the below, both as I try new followers, and as I have more “reviews” to add - thank you to u/featherstonest for the many awesome reviews that help me find new followers to try!)
- Inigo (LE|SE)
- The most popular and well-known follower mod, he has over 7000 lines of unique dialogue
- He has his own website: Friends of Inigo
- There is a Discord channel with an Inigo bot - “We now have a bot on the Inigo server called “Inigo BOT” He will
respond to your “!anythoughts” command (without the quotes) with one of his many responses.” - If you want to feel like finding him is more organic (i.e. why would I go down into the Riften Jail? Just out for a stroll?), there is a note in The Bee and Barb that can help provide a better roleplay option.
- He has interactions with a number of other followers, both Vanilla and modded, including Lucien, Vilja, Auri and Lydia (the Lydia ones made me laugh out loud).
- Version 3 is in the works!
- Lucien (LE|SE)
- While I love Inigo and will most likely always have him as a follower, my absolute all-time favorite is Lucien. He is like a brother to me and I (not my character) can often be heard talking to “Luci” while I play: “Luci, where did you go?” or “Luci, why are you still up on that mountain cliff that is obviously too high to jump down from and I lost half my health when I tried it anyway?”
- His skill levels grow with you and you can train him, which makes it feel like he is a real companion
- He has a quest (which I actually haven’t done yet, but plan to on my current playthrough) and I have heard it is amazing
- He is voiced by the amazing Joseph Russell:
- Nexus Mods Interview - Joseph Russell - The Tale of Lucien Flavius
- Skyrim Modding with Lucien - Recording Dialogue
- How to Make a Follower Mod Like Lucien Flavius - Part 1 - Starting with Skyrim’s Vanilla System
- How to Make a Follower Mod Like Lucien Flavius - Part 2 - Creating a Custom Follower Framework
- He can call you by name! (if you select one from a list in the MCM; only some names are available - I really need to figure out a way to have Joseph Russell add “Bethinia” to that list…)
- I literally have snorted water out my nose when he has said some of his lines, my favorite being when he sang “Toss a coin to your Hero, oh Valley of Whiterun, oh Valley of Whiterun”
- He has interactions with a LOT of other followers, including Inigo, Lydia, Auri, Hoth, Kaidan, and Anna NPCs
- Not only are there patches for all kinds of other mods, but Lucien is regularly updated
- Kaidan (LE|SE)
- I was not sure about Kaidan when I first downloaded him, but I have grown to love him (and he is often the marriage choice for my female characters)
- He sounds like Jon Snow (no joke)
- He swears, which I actually really like since it fits his character (I honestly wish there was more throughout Skyrim, especially for bandits/thieves/etc)
- He has a whole backstory that ties into the Main Quest
- If you use Alternate Start, you can start off with a pretty strong follower by using the “Escape this cell” option and rescuing him immediately.
- He interacts with some other followers including Lucien and Serana
- Kaidan 2 - a glitterless review by u/featherstonest
- Auri (Song of the Green) (LE|SE)
- Auri is another follower I have around often, but I will sometimes leave her behind in favor of one of “my boys”
- She has interactions with some followers including Inigo and Lucien
- Auri, your Friendly Neighbourhood Cannibal - a Follower Review by u/featherstonest
- Hoth (LE|SE)
- I haven’t used him much, but I have heard that he comes with his own radiant quest system
- He has some interactions with Lucien
- Evangeline (LE|SE)
- Sofia (LE|SE)
- Recorder (LE|SE)
- Vilja (LE|SE)
- Livia Salvian (LE|SE)
- Arissa - The Wandering Rogue (LE)
- Professor Benjamin Doon (LE|SE)
- Mirai, the Girl with the Dragon Heart (LE|SE)
- Mirai, the Tsundere with the Dragon Heart (Follower Review) by u/featherstonest
- Ambriel (LE|SE)
- I have not used yet, but plan to soon
- Voiced by PotasticPanda
- Anna NPCs (LE|SE)
- Interesting NPCs (LE|SE)
- Website
- This mod is way more than “just” a follower mod; it adds more people to the world, regular NPCs, followers, and super followers, AND it adds a bunch of follower-related quests.
- Zora, the Damaged Princess - a Follower Review by u/featherstonest
- Alassea the Bard, at your service (follower review) by u/featherstonest
- Khajiit will Follow (LE|SE)
- Companions and Followers (LE|SE)
- Vanilla Companions Redone
- Creature Companions
- Vigilance Reborn (LE|SE)
- Meeko Reborn (LE|SE)
- Garm the Husky Companion (LE|SE)
- Styx the Spectral Wolf Companion (LE|SE)
- Doge Reborn - Shiba Inu Companion (LE)
- Doge - The Husky Companion (LE)
- (Smart No More Stupid Dog Comments (LE|SE) - Because we all hate when NPCs are mean to the pups!)
- Aeonbarr - A Unique and Summonable Horse (LE|SE)
- A Cat’s Life (LE|SE)
- Dovahbear Companion (LE|SE)
- Chicken Companion (LE|SE)
- And for you Pino-lovers (my favorite MxR follower - the Mushroom, not the Breton girl): A Felicidade (LE|SE)
- Visual Overhauls
- Nexus Companions Refine (Sofia, Inigo, Vilja, Kaidan, Arissa, Livia) (SE)
- Cuyima Interesting NPCs (LE|SE)
- Legacy of the Dragonborn - NPC Overhaul by 1N (SE)
- Pandorable’s Lucien replacer (LE|SE)
- Lucien Re-Imagined (LE|SE)
- Pandorable’s Kaidan replacer (LE|SE)
- Game of Thrones Jon Snow - A Kaidan 2 Replacer (SE) - (No joke; I downloaded/installed this just to hear that voice from that mouth and it was entertaining…but not for me. He looks more like a trying-to-be-sexy Edgar Allan Poe…but I guess that describes Jon Snow pretty much perfectly!)
- Sofia Re-Imagined (LE|SE)
- Sofia Visual Overhaul (LE|SE)
- AZ’s Song of the Green Auri Replacer (LE|SE)
- Auri Re-Imagined (Song of the Green visual overhaul) (LE|SE)
- Refined Auri - Song of the Green (LE|SE)
- Vilja Re-Imagined (LE|SE)
- Recorder Overhaul (LE|SE)
- Pandorable’s Livia Replacer (LE|SE)
- True Meeko (LE|SE)
- And there are about a hundred different overhauls of Serana, so I’ll just add a few:
- And finally, frameworks: (Make sure you read the descriptions on any mod followers you add because some come with their own framework and WILL break if you try to import them into it; you can still use the framework for other followers - looking at you Lydia)