Can't dismiss Lydia

[delta51dog]

Like it says in the title, I can't dismiss Lydia as a follower - and I don't mean that I select "It's time for us to part ways" and she keeps following me, I mean that the option for "It's time for us to part ways" doesn't exist. The only way I've been able to fire her was to attack her until she retaliated and 'left my service,' then use the Word of the Emperor power on her.

 

For what it's worth, I've been meaning to finally wipe/reinstall Skyrim for some time now, but before I do I want to see if I/someone can't figure out what caused this problem. My current install is from a while ago, and it's far from perfect.

 

Load order:

 

0 0 Skyrim.esm

1 1 Update.esm

2 2 Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp

3 3 Dawnguard.esm

4 4 Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp

5 5 HearthFires.esm

6 6 Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp

7 7 Dragonborn.esm

8 8 Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp

9 9 CompanionArissa.esm

10 a moonpath.esm

11 b RSkyrimChildren.esm

12 c JSwords.esm

13 d HighResTexturePack01.esp

14 e HighResTexturePack02.esp

15 f HighResTexturePack03.esp

16 10 Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp

17 11 Vampire Lord Serana Fixed.esp

18 12 SkyUI.esp

19 13 dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp

20 14 dD-Dragonborn-Dawnguard-EBT Patch.esp

21 15 SMIM-DragonbornTernFix.esp

22 16 SMIM-FurnitureChestSnowFix.esp

23 17 SMIM-DungeonsCliffsIceSkirts.esp

24 18 Better Dynamic Snow.esp

25 19 WSCO - OcciFemaleCBBE.esp

26 1a WSCO - OcciMaleVNL.esp

27 1b Dragon Combat Overhaul.esp

28 1c dD-No Spinning Death Animation Merged.esp

29 1d Improved Dragon Shouts.esp

30 1e Improved Dragon Shouts - Dawnguard.esp

31 1f Improved Dragon Shouts - Dragonborn.esp

32 20 Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp

33 21 CombatDramaOverhaul.esp

34 22 EnhancedLightsandFX.esp

35 23 ELFX - Exteriors.esp

36 24 ELFX - Dragonborn.esp

37 25 CollegeOfWinterholdImmersive.esp

38 26 ELFX - Dawnguard.esp

39 27 JKs Skyrim.esp

40 28 Cloaks - Dawnguard.esp

41 29 Command Dragon.esp

42 2a 3DNPC.esp

43 2b SkyFalls + SkyMills + DG + DB.esp

44 2c RealisticWaterTwo.esp

45 2d Undeath.esp

46 2e SoS - The Wilds.esp

47 2f Civil War Overhaul.esp

48 30 SoS - Civilization.esp

49 31 SDO Full-LOD - The Morthal Swamp Light.esp

50 32 Guard Dialogue Overhaul.esp

51 33 Immersive Weapons.esp

52 34 SoS - The Dungeons.esp

53 35 Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

54 36 RealisticWaterTwo - Legendary.esp

55 37 Inigo.esp

56 38 Run For Your Lives.esp

57 39 High Level Enemies.esp

58 3a Cloaks.esp

59 3b SMIM-FarmhouseFlickeringFix.esp

60 3c brhucelegacy.esp

61 3d moonpath_questdata.esp

62 3e JSwordsDistributionBalancePlugin.esp

63 3f Immersive Patrols II.esp

64 40 SMIM-ShackRoofFixes.esp

65 41 MiraakFollower.esp

66 42 Solstheim Landscape Overhaul.esp

67 43 SMIM-ShackRoofFixesDragonborn.esp

68 44 HothFollower.esp

69 45 Yennefer.esp

70 46 HothFollower UFO Patch.esp

71 47 SofiaFollower.esp

72 48 MidasSkyrim.esp

73 49 WheelsOfLull.esp

74 4a WorldEaterBeater.esp

75 4b TimingIsEverything.esp

76 4c AV1Dragon_Lords.esp

77 4d HallsOfDovahndor.esp

78 4e The Paarthurnax Dilemma.esp

79 4f Immersive Music Temples.esp

80 50 Immersive Music.esp

81 51 JoOsSkyrimKnightlyArmory.esp

82 52 SDO Full-LOD - Giant Campfires.esp

83 53 My Home Is Your Home.esp

84 54 JoOsSkyrimKnightlyArmoryCheat.esp

85 55 Apocalypse - The Spell Package.esp

86 56 LPotD Armor.esp

87 57 RSChildren - Complete.esp

88 58 WSCO - Better NPCs.esp

89 59 RSChildren_PatchUSKP.esp

90 5a Player Size Adjuster.esp

91 5b Patch - Interesting NPCs - RS kids.esp

92 5c When Vampires Attack.esp

93 5d pelinalfollower.esp

94 5e Unique Uniques.esp

95 5f AncientTonguesSword.esp

96 60 AncientTonguesGreatSword.esp

97 61 SpeechTree.esp

98 62 StealthImmFixv1.esp

99 63 HitStop.esp

100 64 TKRecoil.esp

101 65 TKDodge.esp

102 66 Dragon Soul Relinquishment.esp

103 67 Thieves Guild Requirements.esp

104 68 High Level Enemies - Dawnguard.esp

105 69 High Level Enemies - Dragonborn.esp

106 6a AetheriumSwordsnArmor.esp

107 6b DragonShoutVoice.esp

108 6c VMUVM.esp

109 6d JSwords_Load_Screens.esp

110 6e Acquisitive Soul Gems.esp

111 6f ASG Apocalypse Patch.esp

112 70 ORM-Arvak.esp

113 71 FusRoDoor.esp

114 72 AspectOfPower.esp

115 73 ELFX - Moonpath.esp

116 74 JoOPraetorian.esp

117 75 Frea.esp

118 76 AcquisitiveSoulGemMultithreaded.esp

[Algabar]

Probably an issue with severals mods changing Lydia in conflicting ways. For vanilla followers to work properly, unofficial patch, NPC overhaul(s) and (if installed) follower management mod must fit together. If several mods change Lydia, being unable to recruit or dismiss her might be the result.

Some things I noticed:

- Your "unofficial" patches are outdated. Use "USLEEP" instead: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71214/?

- Make sure, that overhauls of existing NPCs (like WSCO Better Npcs) are compatible with USLEEP or offer a compatibility patch.

- You installed "HothFollower UFO Patch.esp", but not UFO (or I overlooked it).

- Using a follower management mod might make sense. I wouldn't recommend UFO though (buggy and outdated). Use EFF (extensible follower framework), AFT (Amazing follower tweaks) or iAFT (Immersive Amazing Follower Tweaks).

- You don't seem to have a TES5Edit merged patch. Especially with several mods changing NPCs, creating a merged patch with TES5 Edit could be helpful. There are great tutorials on youtube, you can google them.

 

Not related to the current issue, but since you're planning on reinstalling your mods anyway: You got some outdated mods in your load order - e.g. SMIM (there's a new All-in-one esp now), all "SDO Full Lod" files and "Sky Falls and Sky Mills". Replace all these mods affecting LOD with DYNDOLOD (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59721/?). It looks better overall and is more performance friendly. In general: When reinstalling, check if there's an updated version of your mods.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Algabar