~Overview~

Follower and Hero Enrichment Project is a project to enrich your followers and Skyrim's various heroes. "Enrich" means "to improve the quality of something by adding something else" or "to increase the level of a particular isotope in an element in order to make it more powerful or make it explode more powerfully". Rather than making Lydia explode, I used the former definition.

The main version of Follower and Hero Enrichment Project uses powerofthree's Spell Perk Item Distributor to give every follower in the game a set of perks for their main combat skills, making them strong enough to tackle the Old Kingdom's more dangerous inhabitants alongside you while not simply leaving you in the dust. A handful of jarls, guild members and generally interesting people are given perks of their own, suited to their strengths or lack thereof. Some magic users get a wider range of useful spells, and can unlock expert- and even master-level spells when their skills are high enough.

Furthermore, Zzyxzz's SkyPatcher allows me to raise the level limits on most followers to 50, so you'll find Roggi Knot-Beard or Adelaisa Vendicci as useful in the late-game as Lydia or Marcurio. Some particularly tough followers can reach level 61, mainly famed warriors such as Mjoll or the twins from the Companions. A select few followers can level all the way to 81; this privilege is reserved for characters such as Frea, Durak, or the heroes from Jorrvaskr.

Users without SKSE, SPID or SkyPatcher, can download an "analogue" version of the mod instead, with all same the perks, new outfits and levelling changes as the main version, but can run in regular Skyrim without any additional frameworks. The analogue version only covers followers, and will need patching with any other mods that affect them.

Some followers' classes have been switched to better suit their equipment, or give you new options. Iona, for example, is turned into a lightly-armoured ranger type, suiting her role as Riften's housecarl. Ogol is changed from quite a bland warrior into a spellsword.

~Examples~

Aela the Huntress gets Stormcloak officer armour and boots, a light set that fits her glamorous punk warrior fashion sense and works properly with her build. Her level cap is increased to 61. Follower and Hero Enrichment Project also gives her a Nordic bow and the following archery perks:

⦁    Overdraw rank 1
⦁    Quick Shot
⦁    Bullseye

Which is enough to put her among the deadliest archers in Skyrim. We also give Aela a smaller number of perks in one-handed, light armour, block and sneak, all the skills she relies on. Furthermore, she gets a custom perk: "Huntress By Nature", which makes Attacks ignore 25% of the enemy's armour rating.

Annekke Crag-Jumper is a retired adventurer. Follower and Hero Enrichment Project gives her an elven mace with a minor shock enchantment, a memento from her youth, and a hide helmet, which she probably wears in the mine in case something falls on her head. Her level cap is increased to 50. We give her this modest set of perks as well:

⦁    Armsman rank 1
⦁    Savage Strike

⦁    Agile Defender rank 1
⦁    Unhindered

⦁    Overdraw rank 1
⦁    Quick Shot

Not enough for a legendary warrior, but enough for her to stand up against a bear or two. "Borrowing" her mace is an option for the pragmatic Dragonborn. Of course, Annekke gets a custom perk as well: "Wanderer", which grants 50% faster Stamina regeneration when her Stamina is low.

J'zargo is mostly a Destruction mage, so Follower and Hero Enrichment Project gives him a perk to complement his abilities: "Stormbringer", giving 25 extra Magicka and 10% faster movement speed. On top of some other perks, he gets these extra spells:

⦁    Fireball, at level 30 (if you're using the SPID version)
⦁    Chain Lightning, at level 30
⦁    Turn Greater Undead, at level 30
⦁    Thunderbolt, at level 40

With his spells locked until high-ish levels, J'zargo shouldn't be able to disintegrate everything in Saarthal while you're still whapping the draugr with an iron mace, but he will eventually learn how to spark dragons out of the sky.

Legate Rikke is a long-time Legionnaire and General Tullius's right-hand woman, so Follower and Hero Enrichment Project gives her the perks to match. We also give her the power of the Thu'um, mainly so you get to see the look on Ulfric's face when she breathes fire:

⦁    Armsman rank 1
⦁    Fighting Stance

⦁    Fire Breath
⦁    Kyne's Peace
⦁    Battle Fury

Phinis Gestor is a master of Conjuration magic. While he isn't a follower, the lore has him as a master of Conjuration, so we give him these perks and spells:

⦁    Atromancy
⦁    Elemental Potency
⦁    Mystic Binding

⦁    Bound Battleaxe
⦁    Conjure Storm Atronach
⦁    Expel Daedra

There's no level requirement for Phinis, who'll be a Conjuration master at any point in your character's story.

For a run-down of what's added to every follower and side character, see the Readme file bundled with the mod or in the Docs tab.

~Compatibility~

There are no vanilla record edits in Follower and Hero Enrichment Project's full version, so it should work alongside almost anything. Mods that change vanilla perks and spells could change things up a little, since those perks and spells are still distributed to the characters, but a sensible mod like Adamant, MISTI or Vokrii shouldn't have deleterious effects. If a mod overwrites a vanilla perk or spell with something completely different, however, you may find strange effects.

The analogue version does edit the NPC records for every follower in the mud, which means it will overwrite other mods that affect them. You'll need to make a patch for any appearance replacers you use, for example.

SPID can only add items, not remove them from NPCs, so everyone who is given a new weapon (Benor, for example) will still have their usual one. Think of it as a spare weapon in case the snazzy enchanted one runs out of battery power. Follower and Hero Enrichment Project will overlap with mods such as Royal Armory which give different signature items to the same characters.

Follower and Hero Enrichment Project works alongside Tough Cookie Serana; load it afterwards if you're using the analogue version, and her powerful weapons or hand-to-hand proxy items will take precedence. Don't bother with the No Necromancy patch, though.

~Installation~

Install either version of Follower and Hero Enrichment Project with your mod manager of choice. For a manual installation, download and unzip the mod, then place FollowerEnrichmentProject.esp, FollowerEnrichmentProject_DISTR.esp, and the SKSE folder in your data folder. Feel free to merge this mod's SKSE folder with other ones, although if you're using mods that sophisticated, you should probably have a mod manager.

If you're using the full version, make sure you have SPID, SkyPatcher and their dependencies installed, or things won't work.