Skyrim Top 11 Essential Follower Mods 2023

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This article is a collection of the best favorite companions in the Elder Scrolls Skyrim; whether if you are looking for more mods for your list or want to know the best ones out there, this article will pick your interest. 

These mods are primarily based around the standard edition; however, quite a few poured it over to the special edition; either way, I will list the editions with each mod that I will write about. 

 

Companions

 

Inigo By Smartbluecat

Special and Standard Edition

One of mine and any fan favorites out there, Inigo is a must-have companion. Inigo has shockingly fantastic voice acting, considering that he is a khajit. 

 

He has many unique lines in various situations when exploring the region, with thousands of dialogue lines tailored to your particular character, statues, or quest. 

 

This mod even allows you to change the frequency of the commentary in his options. 

 

One of the best things about his dialogue is that they are particularly amusing without removing you away from the immersion. 

 

Inigo also comes with a quest to play through if you let him talk about his past. 

 

In conclusion, this friendly Khajit is a joy to have in your adventures. 

 

Arissa The Wandering Rogue By Chesko

Standard Edition

Arissa is very likable, with excellent voice acting and audio quality. A neat feature, Arissa has affection system towards your character, like many RPGs out there, for example;

• Arissa will approve heroism, cunning, sneaking, and thieving

If you don’t avoid the actions she disapproves of in your service, Arissa will leave you. If you lean towards her affection, Arissa will gift you items or the ability to be summoned anywhere. 

 

Like Inigo, Arissa also comes with a questline that begins when you try to recruit her into your service.

 

Arissa has custom clothing that sets her apart from any other NPCs; she’s also equipped with intelligent movements so you can let her roam free around the city when you tend to your errands. 

 

 

J’zargo

Special and Standard Edtion

J’zargo is a Khajit student located at the college of winter hold. J’zargo includes a short quest to help the Khajit test out one of his fire scrolls; he will offer himself as a follower. 

 

J’zargo has no maximum level cap; instead, he levels with the player no matter what, making him the most effective combat companions out there. 

 

J’zargo exclusive used destruction spells in conjunction with the occasional ward or restoration ability. 

 

J’zargo also has a rich personality; his dialogue and overall character define him as a must-have follower. The Khajit is competitive and overconfident to the point of arrogance, which ends up being hilarious. 

 

Teldryn Sero

Standard and Special Edition

Teldryn Sero is a Dunmer sell sword living Raven Rocks, where he spends his days sampling the tavern’s meat and bread while sitting by a warm fire. 

 

Teldryn Requests 500 golden coins to be your mercenary.

 

Teldryn backstory is what makes this mercenary a must-have; apparently, he’s been a soldier for hire for quite some time. Teldryn’s most recent client was a true Nord, someone who hunted all sorts of bandits and criminals just for fun; he claims that his Nord boss had a bloodlust for violence. One day after clearing out a ruined fort near Whiterun, the duo spotted a single bandit fleeing in the distance; they tracked this bandit for days until they arrived in one of the biggest camps in Skyrim. Teldryn, at that point, turned away and went back to his home, knowing if he continued, he must have likely died. 

 

 

Overhaul mods

 

Amazing Follower Tweaks by Dheuster

Special and Standard Edition

With the Amazing Follower Tweaks installed, you can have up to 5 followers instead of one, which is limited in the vanilla version. 

 

This mod also changes some of the followers’ AI patterns; no longer do you need to worry about your companion stepping on the first trap they see; this modifies the AI to avoid traps and forgive friendly fire.

 

It also includes the option to set 3 different outfits for each specific follower, an everyday outfit, a city outfit, and a home outfit that will be cycled through depending on your location. 

 

Followers can also be set to level up automatically or manually, and you can also command them to certain poses. 

 

If you’re a survival lover like I am and have frost fall installed, you can control them to make a camp. 

 

Your followers will act like ordinary people. Instead of just following you around and watching you sleep, your followers will use some of the items stored in their inventory, have a meal, or maybe read, adding ambiance to your game.

 

Your followers can also be turned into werewolves or vampires. If you are doing a supernatural playthrough, you can recruit your followers into a supernatural being. This can be done by accessing the dialogue option. 

 

The dialogue option added can also alter behavior movement or appearance with tons of options for you to use. 

 

Lastly, if you have an extensive mod list, you won’t need to worry about compatibility with this mod since it conflicts with very few mods.

 

Relationship Dialogue Overhaul By Cloudedtruth

Standard Edition

This is a mod that overhauls almost all of the dialogue in the game, from townspeople, guild members to followers. Ultimately it aims to make NPCs’ behavior more appropriate towards you, depending on how they feel about you. 

 

The mod achieves this the relationship dialogue by using or removing and switching around dialogue lines depending on your particular relationship with an NPC. 

 

This mod even uses some lines of dialogue that weren’t included in the vanilla game. Most of the generic NPCs are voiced by the same voice actors, and in a similar voice dynamic, this mod makes it possible to pull lines from one NPC and give them to another without noticing a difference. 

 

Beyond varying the phrases and stop NPCs from repeating themselves, it gives you the option to make nearly any NPC your follower if they have a high affection for you.

 

Interesting NPCs By Kristakahashi

Standard Edition

This mod adds over 250 uniquely voiced NPCs along with over 50 quests. You can find these NPCs in taverns and cities; they are placed immersively around the world. 

 

The aspect relevant to this mod compilation is that it adds over 25 followers with unique voices and backstories. They also have outstanding lines of commentary, depending on where you take them. 

 

Each personality is distinctly different; you will inevitably find a favorite follower in this mod. 

 

Animal mods

 

Convenient Horses by Mitchalek

Standard Edition

This a mod that provides appearance and behavior customization features for your horse. All of this can be access in the MCN menu. 

 

An essential thing that this mod has is to give your followers a horse.

 

You can customize which horse breed you want each of your followers to use in the MCN menu. 

 

There are many horse armors that you configure to place on your horse or your follower’s horses, giving you the option to customize the horse’s external look. 

 

If you don’t fast travel like I do when I play Skyrim, this mod enhances the experience of using extra followers. 

 

Slave Pack Riekling Porter By Prometheus_TS 

Special Edition

This mod gives you a little companion Riekling that will follow you around and hold your loot. He has a custom voice that sounds like a cute goblin. 

 

To recruit the Riekling, you’ll have to head over to a small island in Solstheim. Once there, you’ll need to complete a very short quest to add him as a follower.

 

Riekling is relatively weak in combat so try to keep him out of the front line. 

 

 

Dovahbit By Mickyan 

Standard Edition

This mod is an adorable little rabbit companion that comes with a variety of different appearances. 

 

You can find Dovahbit in Dragons Reach. 

 

He functions just like a vanilla companion to carry your burdens, and he can even help you lure enemies if you want him to. 

 

 

Meeko 

Standard and Special Edition

One of my favorite companions, Meeko, is four-legged creation wandering the forest all alone. 

 

As soon as you approach Meeko, he will lead you to a small abandoned shack. Inside the shack, you will find the corpse of an unnamed Nord and his journal. The journal conveys a depressing story of the Nord contracting Rock joint, a lethal disease in Tamriel. 

 

Meeko was left alone; with the help of Dragonborn, he can become your new companion. As a follower Meeko has limited dialogue, but the pup is a useful ally; he levels up with you until you reach level 25. 

 

Conclusion

This list ranges from brother companions to overhauls and animal companions. If your plan is to be immersed by these companions, this list is for you. Many of these allies possess astonishingly unique backgrounds or personalities that are worth exploring. At the end of this list, I can only say thank you to our devoted mod developers out there that created these fantastic mods.