Let Companions manage themselve

[ElianFricke]

Is there a mod available, that allows companions to somewhat manage themselves?

Its more than just a pain in the ass if i have to clothe, equip and command my companions. Im not their parent, they should clothe and equip them self.

Let them walk around after a fight and pick up anything they like from the corpse of their enemy.

 

Mostly annoying is the fact, that they always use their not so good weapon until you give them ammo for it.

What are the limitations here? Is this just a big problem for me or why cant i find any mod that lets them loot and equip gear automatically?

[lazloarcadia]

Well Amazing Follower Tweaks does a lot of what you are describing. They won't auto loot for you, but there is an easy to use command you can issue through the AFT settings for "gather loose items". Vanilla followers will grab everything that isn't red (flagged for stolen) in the area, even beyond their own carry weight limitations. Modded followers such as Heather Casdin should NEVER be controlled / commanded with such a mod as it breaks their AI and Quests. Fortunately Heather isn't bothered by the gather loose items command and will simply ignore it.

 

AFT also comes with some preset outfit choices even for followers such as Nick Valentine. If you have ever tried to equip him with other gear, you will find a lot of it won't work on him because he uses a custom base body. AFT however has several outfits already configured to work specifically for him.

 

AFT also allows you to set what outfits the characters will wear when they are in town, vs in combat, swimming, etc. Unfortunately I have not found a way to get them to equip hazmat suits when they are in radiation. This can be helpful when dealing with Preston or Deacon who will change to one of their default outfits when interacting with NPC's or entering into new areas. AFT tells them to put their "adventuring gear" that you have spent a lot of time and energy making for them back on pronto!

 

AFT also allows you to set their weapon & / or flag them to no longer use ammo (so they don't try to switch back to their default weapon) or even allow them to ignore any damage to their power armor. One option I use for my followers (AFT allows you to have up to 5 active followers FYI) is I use mods that allow me to craft ammo. From there I craft extra ammo and give the followers a couple of different weapons such as an assault rifle, a shot gun and a pistol. This way I can tell when they are running low by which weapon they are currently using.

 

AFT was also one of the first mods to introduce the idea of a settlement blueprint (a little known feature of the mod). So you go to the settlement, pull up the menu and select the option to import the settlement build. It costs a few caps, takes a couple of minutes, and then your done. NOTE: I use the word "blueprint" here loosely. AFT has its own specific layout for the settlement, and while it is fully compatible with settlement transfer blueprints, they are not natively integrated into AFTs settings.

 

AFT has a setting to command your companions to heal themselves or each other during combat, even in survival mode. Honestly I don't think they will heal YOU however unless that specific character has that as a part of their AI package (such as Curie).

 

 

In short AFT is an amazing mod that I've been using since Skyrim 1.0 and has been a permanent part of my load order for about 10 years now.

Edited May 15, 2021 by lazloarcadia