Good vanilla follower?

[GardenData61371]

I had fun with Inigo but he's more problematic then useful so I've decided to stick with vanilla followers instead. Any recommendations?

[FauxFurry]

Serana is the best vanilla follower. So much so that most of the fully voiced modded followers used Serana as their basis.

[Sinsling]

Annoying af some most of the time though.

[Fairy]

Marcurio is probably my favorite vanilla follower.

[MysticMalevolence]

J'zargo.

[MeinChurro]

Ralis Sedarys (Dragonborn) does gigantic damage.

[tulle040657]

Originally posted by EmCross:

Marcurio is probably my favorite vanilla follower.

only when he is not killing you with his chaim lighting

[tulle040657]

There are no good vanilla followers

[Solomon Hawk]

Originally posted by tulle040657:

There are no good vanilla followers

WHAT?
Lydiaaaaaaaaaa

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by tulle040657:

There are no good vanilla followers

Agreed. I basically never (99% of the time) use a follower in this game because they just get in my way. They block doors and objects, suck at stealth, I shoot them with arrows and/or spells by accident (stop running in front of me!), or they hit me with arrows and/or spells (see Marcurio comment, above). I'm more survivable going solo.

[SMIFFY]

^^Just like playing with people in co-op games.

[SpeedFreak1972]

don't like followers .... only useful as backpacks.

[Player#2201]

Originally posted by Dylan the Cartographer:

J'zargo.

Surely you jest.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by SMIFFY:

^^Just like playing with people in co-op games.

Exactly. Except probably somehow more useful (and entertaining to talk to).

[The King Possum]

Originally posted by Solomon Hawk:

Originally posted by tulle040657:

There are no good vanilla followers

WHAT?
Lydiaaaaaaaaaa

INDEED SHE IS GREAT!!

[DrNewcenstein]

Find my Improved Housecarls and Hirelings mod. It gives all vanilla followers perks and combat skills. No more setting off traps in dungeons (except for those few marked as ignoring the Light Foot perk), and when they throw down, heads fly.

Lydia, Iona, Jordis, Rayya, and Jenassa have infinite Shouts, as well, due to their Amulet of Jurgen Windcaller.
Lydia - Unrelenting Force (her own special blend that only she can use)
Iona - Ice Form
Jordis - Fire Breath
Rayya - Cyclone (from Dragonborn)
Jenassa - an enhanced version of Marked for Death which deals considerable damage

They also can't hurt anyone not in combat with them. Mostly.

Mjoll and Adelaisa got the Disarm shout, and Adelaisa also got Dismay.

If you want them to not Shout, remove the AllowShouting Perk from them. If you take their Amulet of Jurgen Windcaller, they will go through Cooldown, typically saving their Shouts for finishers instead of openers.

They cannot learn new Shouts unless you have a mod that allows it. I gave them the single Shouts they have for a reason (mostly because it's just outright chaos if they have the 3 main elemental shouts. They also tend to hesitate as the AI figures out which Shout works best for the situation.). Multiple Follower Mods (I use UFO - it works for SE if you extract the BSA) will let them work as a team. You should see them air-juggling Red Eagle or Dragon Priests into the rafters.

Serana's spell book is changed from Chain Lightning and Freezing Whirlwind to Thunderbolt and Icy Spear. In fact, if someone casts Chain Lightning, it got replaced with Thunderbolt.
Brelyna Marion summons a Daedric Lord or a Flame Atronach instead of Frost Atronachs which severely crowd doorways. Aranea also summons a Flame Atronach instead of a Frost.

If you can recruit them as a vanilla follower, they've been Perked and Skilled, except for dogs (Meeko, Barbas, etc). Also, if they just follow you for a specific quest, like Anska in High Gate Ruins, they didn't get anything special, except for Salma at Ironbind Barrow (because I make her a follower manually).


It should be noted that the mod also changes the appearances of some of the females (pretty much everyone except Lydia, Rayya, Iona, Annekke Crag-Jumper, and Jordis) to make them more attractive (IMO, anyway). Mjoll, Adelaisa, Jenassa, and Uthgerd aren't the aged hags of their vanilla selves, but they're not anime pedo waifus with blushing cheeks, slobbering beesting lips, and doe eyes.
Brelyna doesn't look like a broken tree branch, and Illia from Darklight Tower doesn't look like Gothic Crackwh0r3 of the Month.

Eola, the Companions females, and the one Orc female you get as a follower also got "the treatment" (though there's just not much you can do with an Orc).

Valerica's a babe, too.

The guys' appearances weren't changed, because who cares what they look like. They should look rough and tough and ragged, they're men who've been through it and came out smelling (and looking) like it.

The facial reconstruction was not supposed to be part of this mod; I thought I had a new mod open when I was making the changes. I was mostly done before I realized I'd done it in the Skills and Perks mod, and really didn't feel like starting completely over with either of them.