10. SR Elf Followers

All Nine of the Potential Followers in SR Elf Followers

Introduction: This mod adds 9 new elf followers to Skyrim, the majority of whom are female. These followers are scattered throughout Skyrim, and each have been customized so they stand out from one another. 

Points of Interest:

• Variety: Aside from their race, each follower is unique. They have their own appearance, playstyle and preferences, allowing the player to have a variety of options at their disposal when it comes to travel companions.
• Custom Dialogue: Each follower has custom dialogue to highlight their own personality and traits. Each follower has their own likes and dislikes, and if you gift them with an item they like they will give you a minor buff.
• Marriable and Protected: It is not exactly a secret that a good deal of this mod’s appeal is its aesthetic appeal. Each follower was built to look less like the mer from The Elder Scrolls lore and more like the conventional elves that is typically associated with high fantasy. Which is why I imagine several downloaders were pleased to find that each and every one of these beautiful females was both marriable and protected (i.e not able to be killed by anyone who is not the player).

Get the mod HERE

9. Minerva- Custom High Elf Voiced Follower

Minerva in One of Her Custom Appearances

Introduction: While it is not as in-depth as some of its counterparts, this mod still deserves some credit with how it adds a highly customizable standalone follower to Skyrim. The high elf named Minerva can be found near or in Solitude, and her ability to be tailored to player preference is contrasted to her unusual voice type.

Points of Interest:

• Unusual Voice Type: Of all of the voice types present in vanilla Skyrim, the “Female Elf Haughty” is one of the least used--and is usually associated with snobby altmer. It is also one of the voice types that has no follower dialogue. But Minerva not only uses this voice type, she comes with her own voiced dialogue so that she actually seems friendly to the player and belittling to her enemies. She has friendly greetings, follower responses and commentary during certain quests..
• Highly Configurable: Through the MCM the player can customize just about everything with Minerva. This includes things like hairstyle, combat behavior and class. They can even have it so any user of the female elf haughty voice type can use Minerva’s dialogue.
• Is Compatible with Several Mods: A big bonus for anyone who has an extensive mod list, the mod has compatible variations of itself so it can be played with mods like AFT, EFF, UFO and more.

Get the mod HERE

8. Enhanced Skyrim Followers- Aela the Huntress

Aela the Huntress and Her Additional Dialogue Options

Introducion: Instead of adding a completely new follower, this mod seeks to enhance the popular vanilla NPC known as Aela the Huntress. Using Bioware companions as inspiration, the mod seeks to enhance Aela’s dialogue, combat and general behavior in order to make her a more fleshed out character that the player can interact with.

Points of Interest:

• Aela’s “Respect” System: Now having her own equivalent of a moral system, Aela may now approve or disapprove of the player’s actions. This in turn can affect things such as dialogue options and the actions she is willing to perform for the player. 
• Additional Dialogue: In addition to the implementation of several dialogue trees that the player can trigger, Aela will now also comment on things like location, certain quest lines and other actions the player may make. Admittedly, a lot of these comments are unvoiced, but overall Aela still seems enhanced from her vanilla version who only comments on a limited number of things.
• Enhanced Combat and Tactics: Through dialogue, the player can now change Aela’s general tactics. For example, you can have her use only certain types of weapons in combat, determine when she can engage in combat, or have her follow the player at a set distance. She may now also transform into a werewolf in certain situations, which the player can potentially customize to a degree if they have enough respect.  

Get the mod HERE

7. Song of the Green

Auri the Traditionalist Wood Elf

Introduction: At its most basic level, the mod adds a female bosmer named Auri near Evergreen Grove. She can be recruited after a brief discussion and if you want, you can just treat her as your average follower. But should you wish to expand on your relationship with her,  it also comes with an optional questline where the player can learn more about her and her heritage.

Points of Interest:

• Banter with Vanilla NPCs: As a fully voiced follower, Auri can converse and banter with certain vanilla NPCs. This includes NPCs like Seranna, children from the Hearthfire DLC and Faendal.
• Comments on Location and Actions: Auri is a snarky and intelligent wood elf, and will comment on her surroundings and the player’s actions from time to time. 
• Learn About Bosmer Culture and Tradition: In addition to certain options in her dialogue tree, the mod also has a very short questline where the player can learn about bosmer culture and Auri herself. Given that Auri is described as a “traditionalist wood elf”, odds are good that the player will learn about “the Green Pact”, a code that mandates no plant life be harmed and no meat be wasted.

Get the mod HERE, and HERE (for Special Edition)

6. Mirai-The Girl With the Dragon Heart 

Mirai in a Custom Dress

Introduction: This mod adds Mirai, a breton frost mage, to Markarth. She comes with her own questline, unique abilities, and combat system. Originally hailing from High Rock, Mirai has always had a flare for adventure despite previously having a sheltered life.

Points of Interest:

• Unique Abilities and Items: To make her stand out from vanilla NPCs, Mirai also comes with the potential to learn certain unique abilities during her questline.But this mod also comes with a custom wedding dress and a unique pendant that Mirai can wear. 
• Custom Dialogue and Outfits: Mirai is fully voiced and has over 1000+ lines of custom dialogue that is distributed across her general dialogue and questline. 
• Personal Questline: When you first meet Mirai, it will become clear that she is not as sweet as her appearance may suggest ...or is she? Mirai is not open about how she came to be in Skyrim in the first place, but the player can eventually earn her trust.

Get the mod HERE, and HERE (for Special Edition)

5. Celestine Healer Custom AI

Celestine in a Ruin

Introduction: Celestene is a breton healer that can be found at the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun. But what makes this mod stand out from the previous listings is how she was built with a support character in mind--complete with a custom AI that compliments her healing oriented build. 

Points of Interest:

• Dedicated Support Follower: Almost every follower mod gives you a combat capable follower, but have you ever wanted a support follower? Someone who can both heal you and disorient your enemies? Well Celestine does just that! Spell-wise her character is focused on the restoration, conjuration, alteration and illusion schools of magic. So she is definitely equipped to assist the player on their journey.
• Non-Combative AI: To compliment her healer build, Celene comes with her own unique AI which comes with a ton of advantages when compared to vanilla NPCs that can be ...”tactically challenged” at times. She never initiates combat, she uses an invisibility spell while sneaking, and in battle she more likely to disorient them with illusion spells or buff the player instead of charging at an enemy head on. Which is to say nothing of the other helpful actions she performs even outside of direct combat.
• Several Body Types Available: If you consider yourself an extensive modder then odds are you have downloaded a body-replacer mod in the past like CBBE and UNP. Well the mod author has separate files available for Celestine depending on which body type you prefer.

Get the mod HERE, and HERE (for Special Edition)

4. Cerwiden-Smart Healer-AI Configurable Companion

Cerwiden the SMART Follower

Introduction: Similar to Celestine, this mod adds a follower who focuses on healing and support. Cerwiden is a human “Priestess of Donblas“ that comes with her own questline, custom voice and AI in addition to her support build. 

Points of Interest:

• Custom AI: In addition to healing you and debuffing enemies, Cerwiden’s AI was also built so she takes enemy weaknesses into account. So if, for example, she comes across a troll she will use fire spells since she knows they are weak to fire damage. This new AI element is called “SMARTcast” and some enemies in her questline use it as well to make the questline more challenging than average.
• Configurability: Through dialogue and a “battle system”, the player can change and customize several of Cerwiden’s attributes and features. This includes combat style, when to heal the player, what she wears, and more.  
• Questline: Questlines for followers is nothing new on the modding scene, but Cerwiden has one that is particularly detailed. So detailed in fact that the mod author has made an optional PDF file available to anyone who wants to read about it. But to keep this article short, know that this questlines comes with new locations, additional NPCs, new items and more.

Get the mod HERE

3. M’rissi’s Tales of Troubles

M'rissi the Catgirl

Introduction: Focusing on a cat girl named M’rissi, the mod includes a fully voice acted questline, a new unique follower and a potential servant for your house. The main feature is a quest to uncover M’rissi’s unique and interesting origins--most of which is peppered with roleplaying options, mentions of dark subject matter and khajiiti culture.

Points of Interest:

• A Truly Unique Follower: Follower mods are hardly anything new, and the grand majority of those mods are dedicated toward the races of men and mer. As such, any mod focusing on any of the ‘beastfolk’ (argonians and khajiit) or hybrids is bound to stand out. This means that M’rissi, as a khajiit-passing follower, naturally stands out among all of the follower mods available. Ideal for anyone who wants a really unique experience!
• Immersive Questline: The mod has over 8+ hours of quests in it and has at least three separate endings. This immersive questline deals with khajiiti slavery, the Thalmor and M’rissi’s herself as you try and uncover her backstory and how she came to Skyrim.
• Separate Endings: As mentioned before the questline has separate endings. These endings can determine the nature of your relationship with M’rissi. Depending on the choices you make you can make M’rissi either your friend, your lover, or your slave. Assuming you don’t kill her of course.

Get the mod HERE, and HERE (for Special Edition)

2. Arissa-The Wandering Rogue

Arissa Wearing Casual Clothes

Introduction: Arissa is an imperial follower with a rogue-type playstyle. Preferring daggers and bows, this character really shines with her 600+ lines of dialogue and how she has the ability to actually wander around on her own as opposed to staying glued to the dragonborn’s hip..

Points of Interest:

• Has a “Regard System”: Depending on the choices and actions of the player, Arissa will adjust how she treats the player. This change in regard can affect things such as how she greets the player, the actions she is willing to perform, and even unlocking new abilities. A word of advice though, don’t resort to cannibalism in front of her--she has no tolerance for them and refuses to follow one.
• Town Roaming: When visiting a major town or city, Arissa will begin to roam the town of her own accord. Oftentimes she will hang around alchemy and general good stores, but she has been known to get into some trouble after midnight. But don’t worry, should you leave the city Arissa will come find you on her own.
• Has a Short Quest: In addition to her introductory mini-quest when you first meet her, Arissa will approach after 3 in-game days to start her own main questline. It may be a bit short, but it does help flesh out her character.

Get the mod HERE

1. Vilja in Skyrim

Vilja in Solitude

Introduction: Based off a similar mod for TES: Oblivion, Vilja is a fully voiced acted bard that comes with a multitude of features such as a wardrobe system and a disposition system. She came to Skyrim in order to determine the contents of a mysterious bottle she inherited from her grandmother, and now she needs the player’s help to uncover its secrets.

Points of Interest:

• Highly Configurable: Through both dialogue options and the MCM, the player can configure several elements about Vilja such as her travel behavior, habits, wardrobe and dialogue trees.
• Highly Interactive: Vilja has a ton of features that allow her to interact with not only the player, but the world around her. These include things like conversing with other followers, craft certain items, perform as a bard with her own songs, and more.  
• Character Development: When you first meet Vilja will only have minimal skills, having only a few spell options to choose from, minimal combat ability, and only able to play the drums. But as you travel with her and complete her questline, Vilja will begin improving. She can gain access to better spells, additional instruments, and effective combat experience. 

Get the mod HERE, and HERE (for Special Edition)

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