Help for a newbie?

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folgore

New Member
Hi, just started playing Skyrim after having played the various Dragon Age games for quite awhile. Needless to say, some things are similar; some things different.

Dumb newb question #1: how many followers can you get? Currently, I have Sofia - a modded follower - and the woman who was rejected by the Companions. I was going to pay 500 to get Janessa to join, but she said I already had too many followers and I needed to send one away. Can one rotate followers as in the DA games? Or do you have to permanently get rid of one in order to add another? Also, does this mean you work in teams of only three?

As the followers you get in the vanilla game, can you change their gear at all?
 

Hart

Sassmaster
Well, vanilla gameplay only allows one human follower, and one animal follower. You mentioned modded, are you on PC?
 

folgore

New Member
Yes, after getting Dragon Age Origins, I shifted from gaming on Consoles to gaming on PC. I thought the number of mods Origins had was wild, but then I saw Skyrim's mod count was truly massive! I can't believe how elaborate the Sofia mod is. The only thing noticeable is that third parties don't notice her.....unless their enemies, in which case she attacks. Any specific mods you'd recommend? I added a body mod and a mod to pretty up the female characters.. (My only negative reaction to the beginning of the game was to how homely all the characters looked.)

Now when you say "human follower," does that include all the other races of Skyrim? (Elves, cat, and lizard people?) Where would one find an animal follower? What are we talking about? Dogs? Bears? (Or would that include nonhuman races?)

Also, are followers permanent until replaced? Or can you switch out between followers at a moment's notice?

Many thanks!
 

Specter of Death

Omnipresent Moderator
Staff member
Happy to see a new-comer to the series! I hope you'll come to love it just as much as the rest of us here :D Now let me see if I can help you out with answering some of those questions for you!

So, essentially in Vanilla (modless) Skyrim, you can have 1 follower and 1 pet, like our lovely friend @Hart already said. Followers are any humanoid NPC in the game--man, mer (elf), and beast-folk alike. Not everyone can be a follower however, but there are quite a few who can be. Gaining a follower can be as simple as finding a hireling/mercenary like Jenessa and paying her to be in your service, making a friend by completing a quest to help them like Mjol the Lioness, or simply being given one like in the case of the Housecarls. Best way to find out who can and can't be is through just playing through the game and fluidly finding out, but if you are like me and would like to do some of your own research, I'll provide a link below for you to look into!

Pets are more limited in the game, but essentially follow the same ideas of the followers. You assume right by guessing dogs etc. They are vast in options, and can be gained through the same means of the followers; either by purchasing them, helping them or being given them. Pets are a little more difficult to find however, so there'll be some info in the link I provide for them as well.

Now, without any mods, you can't have more than 1 of each - so in your case with the follower mod you have on it seems you are able to have her and one other; which is pretty cool if you ask me. But if you want to have any more than just that there are plenty of mods out there that will allow you to have more. However, unlike in DA, the followers are a little more cumbersome in my opinion, and lack the same versatility that they would in Inquisition for example (unless again, you have mods installed to change that).

So when you are adding a new follower, or rather switching them out, you do in fact have to swap them out. That means that with paid followers, they will leave your service and go back to where they first hired them--and if you wish to get there help again you'd have to pay them again. With "friend" npc's who you helped with a mission, or gifted npc's like housecarls, when you replace them they will either go back to the city you found them in, or sometimes even whatever player home you may own (not including faction housing). If you switch out a follower that doesn't mean that they can never be a follower again though. Getting them back is as simple as talking to them and asking them to follow you again!

Hopefully this answers some of the questions you have, including the ones you asked. As more if you need, this forum is your recourse friend :)

Here's that link I promised: http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Followers
 

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