The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a perfect game as it is.
Each ridge is filled with another adventure just waiting to be discovered, and with a vast landscape for you to explore, you can be certain that there are plenty of adventures to be had in Skyrim.
Skyrim is more than just a huge landscape though.
Although the game’s expansive environment is one of its biggest strengths, it’s also how incredibly detailed and full of life nearly every nook and corner is that makes the game deserving of all the accolades and praises it receives.
This includes the NPCs you meet across your travels, some of which you can even ask to follow you on your adventures.
But, despite a vast number of NPCs, otherwise known as followers, to choose from, sometimes, you just want someone else.
Thankfully, in Skyrim, you can go for something else entirely, and it’s all thanks to the magical powerful of community-made mods.
Over the years, the community has crafted a number of ways to make an already perfect game like Skyrim even better.
And, below, you’ll find a list of all the best mods pertaining to followers in Skyrim that’s well worth the hassle of downloading and risking bricking your save files for.
10. Kaidan
Built completely from the ground up, Kaidan is a potential lover for the female dragonborns of Skyrim, or just an overall swell companion that’s above-average in combat.
Kaidan is definitely more of the former though.
If you’re seeking a lifetime partner in Skyrim, there are fewer companion mods that are better than Kaidan.
9. Hoth
Like Kaidan, Hoth doesn’t have too many dialogue choices.
But, his backstory is pretty cool, and unlike Kaidan, he is more than just serviceable in combat, what with being a bounty hunter who’s not afraid to get down and dirty and all.
With Hoth, you’ll never run out of things to do.
He’ll give you a limitless number of quests in the form of bounty hunt contracts.
The only issue we definitely see that needs to be pointed out with Hoth is that he is very stubborn.
He insists on using his own set of weapons and armors.
This isn’t really a problem at lower levels.
But, at higher levels, or if you installed a mod that makes your playthrough more difficult, Hoth will struggle to help in combat let alone survive.
If nothing else, Hoth is an excellent source of quests.
8. Recorder
If you’re big into the Skyrim lore, Recorder might not be for you.
With a backstory that involves being literally from another dimension and being sent into Tamriel to record the adventures of the dragonborn, the Recorder is literally out of this world.
She is damn cute though.
With over 700 recorded voice lines and a fleshed out romance quest line (not yet quite into married though), as well as a quest line already in the works, the morally lackin Recorder is an ideal companion for those who want to have a more interesting time in Skyrim.
7. Mirai
Adorable doesn’t even begin to describe Mirai.
The girl with the dragon heart, Mirai is an adult-oriented follower mod for Skyrim whose heart is as cold as the ice-focused magic that she is so capable of wielding to defend herself and you, the dragonborn.
Mirai is a fully stand-alone mod for Skyrim that players can marry and romance with.
She’s also apparently quite fun to be with, what with more than a thousand lines of spoken dialogue recorder for her.
Outside of her cute appearance and cold demeanor though, what makes Mirai one of the better companion mods in Skyrim is that she is actually fairly powerful, and not in an OP sort of way.
6. Arissa
Described as an “Imperial witha n independent, rebellious spirit, and a gift for making expensive things disappear.”, Arissa is a beautifully crafted and well constructed companion mod for Skyrim, with professionally recorded voice lines courtesy of Nikkita.
Unlike other companion mods, Arissa was created to be an actual companion for players in Skyrim.
This means that Arissa should be no different from other companions naturally found in the game.
If there’s one gripe with Arissa though, it’s that she can’t be married. Or, at least, not yet anyway.
Also, be careful if you have Arissa as a companion.
If you let her wander around for too long, especially during the wee hours of the night, you’ll find that Arissa will be up to no good.
5. Sofia
Speaking of no good, Sofia is all about that life, which is a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it.
A fully voiced follower, Sofia’s double entendre dialogus is a bit of a hit or miss.
But, she does hate Nazeem and Braith, which seems to be pretty universal among players of Skyrim.
Not to mention, she is actually quite genuinely funny.
For times when you want to spice up your sometimes bleak and monotonous adventures in Skyrim, Sofia’s consistently inappropriate comments is a breath of fresh air.
4. Aurlyn Dawnstone
A fully-voiced High Elf who’s seen it all, Aurlyn Dawnstone wasn’t built to be cute.
She’s an all-powerful sorceress who’s probably capable of incinerating you, the dragonborn, if she would ever so will it, but she won’t.
Why?
Because she’d very much rather provide you with advanced commentary on some of the most notable locations of Skyrim.
Also, if all-powerful magic users are your thing, you can actually marry Aurlyn.
Regardless of whether you make her your homemaker or not though, Aurlyn is a formidable ally to have in the battlefield and a wise companion to have during your adventures.
Her dynamic dialogue with you throughout the game will stick with you like an inner voice that will tell you if you did the right thing or not.
3. Garm
Literally the son of Garmr, the guardian of the underworlds in Norse mythology, Garm is a relatively young pop who chose a form of a husky to explore the lands of Skyrim and all that the land can offer.
If you thought huskies were cool in real life, wait until you see Garm tear draugr up in Skyrim.
2. Vilja
A follow-up to a companion mod for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion of the same name, the Vilja of Skyrim is actually the great-granddaughter of the same Vilja that appeared in Oblivian as a mod.
True to her lineage, Vilja is a full-fledged companion mod that’s as useful in combat and out of it.
Featuring her own questline, you can give orders to Vilja via her unique system where you can bind her spells to your hotkeys to make it easier to launch coordinated attacks.
Also, Vilja tends to converse with pretty much anyone and talk about anything in the game, including some of the other mods we featured in our list.
Her conversations with Inigo (more on him later on) are to die for.
1. Inigo
Inigo is the Skyrim follower that you never thought that you needed.
A blue Khajiit that can and will follow you even when you’ve already got an existing companion — Inigo can even interact with them, which makes for some of the most hilarious conversations in the game — Inigo will comment on just about anything and everything in the game at times when you deem appropriate and not-so-appropriate.
A full-fledged mod, Inigo is more than just a companion mod.
He’s got tons of dialogue, as well as his own questline.
Inigo is also the perfect companion mod because he will follow your every command, which is a lot more than can be said about the other more vanilla companions found in Skyrim.
Inigo might not be the perfect companion in Skyrim, mod or not, but he’s the closest one there is.
Final Thoughts
Skyrim’s rich world can only be made richer through mods, and if you’re hesitant to tinker much with the game yet, a great place to start with are the companions.
Adding any one of these companion mods to your Skyrim game is sure to make your playthrough a bit better, even if some of them might not be as good as you would like them to be combat-wise.
If nothing else, having a new companion to choose in Skyrim should help keep things interesting.
