Hello, my name is failb0at, and I nuked a level 55 Skyrim save because Kaidan was a fucking fratboy who wouldn’t stop talking about my Dragonborn’s arse.
A cursory search for “Kaidan” on /r/skyrimmods shows more than a few threads asking the same question: Which Kaidan mod should I get? That’s because there’s five of them:
- Kaidan (the OG)
- Kaidan 2
- Kaidan 2: Extended Edition
- Kaidan 2: Immersive Features
- Community Workshop – Kaidan Revoiced
As an OG Kaidan player who had him through several playthroughs between the first mod and now, I’m going to start with the obvious:
Don’t — seriously, do not — get Kaidan 2: Immersive Edition.
Not just because the mod authors put malware in an Immersive Features update to screw with the authors of Kaidan 2: Extended Edition, thus fucking up multiple people’s saves in the process.
Not just because said authors tolerate homophobic behavior in their Discord (there’s a whole Tumblr dedicated to the leaks, but I can’t be bothered digging it up again; Google’s free).
And not just because Dan Lemon*, Kaidan’s original voice actor, allegedly threatened to sue the creator of the Caryalind Thallery mod for creating a patched romance between Kaidan and Caryalind, even though the latter was meant to use a different VA.
No, this is about Immersive Edition’s un-immersive features that twist Kaidan’s lore, personality and interactions to the point where he doesn’t even feel like Kaidan anymore.
Oh, and they also used generative AI to create new voice lines for existing NPCs, which is a pretty shitty thing to do when voice actors in the games industry are striking for people not to do that.
* Also, according to his Twitter interactions, Dan Lemon supports the right-wing populist party Reform UK. Anyone who knows anything about Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage, knows that man is a human shitstain on Britain’s already questionable political record who makes Boris fucking Johnson look good by comparison.
What’s wrong with Kaidan 2: Immersive Edition?
To be fair, there are some things that Immersive Edition gets right, so let’s start with those. IE has a number of quality-of-life improvements, including expanded lines and interactions with the main Skyrim questlines, awareness of things like the player’s health and diseases, and a portable player house (improperly called a “tent”, that thing is two stories high). If you’re doing a survival-centric playthrough, this is pretty damn convenient.
Unfortunately, all of it is ruined by some truly terrible creative choices that turn Kaidan from stoic Nord warrior (yes, he’s Akaviri, but he was raised by a Nord and as one, okay?) to fratboy creep. Aside from some truly stupid lines (like the infamous “Elvensies?” one) and some problematic ones that were thankfully cut (like calling Vex uptight for not wanting Delvin to spy on her in the bath*), Kaidan seems to have trouble recognizing where the (very thick) line is between lovers banter and objectifying asshole.
* It says a lot about the Immersive Features team that this line was thought of, written, recorded and possibly implemented before anyone realized how fucked up it is.
As soon as you start romancing him, Kaidan becomes obsessed with your arse. Obsessed.
For instance:
I should’ve realized there’d have to be destruction magic involved, when I couldn’t stop staring at your arse.
My Dragonborn is a 100/100 destro/heavy armor spellblade. Hearing that line twenty dozen times made me want to chuck my headset through the wall. Also, this makes literally no sense. If my DB’s arse is truly that charming, wouldn’t that be an Illusion spell?
Too busy looking at your arse… (cough) i mean, sorry, what did you ask?
If I felt like having some Scottish guy objectify my body, I’d have just gone for a walk. And just because the Internet at large loves its recreational outrage, the only reason I specify Scottish is because Kaidan’s VA is Scottish as well. OK?
Me? Mmm… I’m just over here minding my own business and looking at your arse. Same as I always do.
Even if you don’t, he still exhibits the sense of humor of a 12-year-old who discovered he can say “arse” without repercussion.
It’s Middas today. Sounds like mid-arse.
No, Kaidan, it really doesn’t.
Turdas, sounds like turd-arse, doesn’t it?
*uninstalls*
Look. If this kind of banter is your cuppa, I won’t judge. It certainly isn’t mine; hearing it constantly (and I mean constantly) while trying to enjoy some fantasy escapism is too fucking much. I get plenty of that in real life for the crime of existing while female.
Is Kaidan 2: Extended Edition any better?
Like its name implies, Kaidan 2: Extended Edition does expand Kaidan’s awareness of quests, NPCs, and even other modded followers considerably. There’s patches for at least a couple dozen mods, from Legacy of the Dragonborn to Beyond Skyrim: Bruma and bantering with Auri and Inigo.
That said, to be level with you guys, I’m not quite sure how EE and IF interact with each other. According to Reddit, it was Extended Edition that first changed Kaidan’s personality to the point where he became “a bawdy dudebro who brings up his cock more times than I care for” and “an alcoholic frat boy who is obsessed with his balls and yelling WANKER at everyone”.
This, from the same thread, also tracks:
It is clear they write him with a weaker, artsy, damsel DB in mind and on many occations remove player agency altogether and force you into their vision of the DB.
One more thing worth mentioning here is that EE Kaidan talks about piss… a lot (Exhibit A [SFW]) because the EE mod author has a piss fetish and really, really wanted to inflict that on the rest of us, I guess.
After playing with EE & IF for a couple months and hitting level ~55 before he got too much, yep, all of this. Even with the same visual replacer and VA, he’s an entirely different character. If you’re like me and you’re still on the fence (“How bad can it be?”), trust me: it’s pretty damn bad.
What about Kaidan 2?
If you want a mod that stays true to the original creator’s vision, Kaidan 2 is the way to go. Like many veteran modders, this was my intro to Kaidan overall, and it still holds up even though it’s been technically discontinued.
Worth noting that some of the original bugs and scratchy audio lines are still kicking around, so your immersion might occasionally take a hit because of broken audio or Kaidan getting stuck in a rock (see my other post about how to use console commands to get him back).
What’s the deal with Kaidan Revoiced, then?
Kaidan Revoiced – Community Expansion (KRCE) is the community’s answer to the shitshow that EE & IF have become, and it’s a damn good answer at that (I may be a little biased).
From the mod description:
Kaidan Revoiced: Community Expansion is a standalone, remastered version of the original Kaidan 2 mod created by LivTempleton.
Featuring Paul Warren as the voice of Kaidan, every single line of code, every asset, and every script has been reconstructed – our new follower framework eliminates long-standing bugs and quality of life issues that were present in the original mod.
Something else that KRCE does is eliminate or modernize some problematic lines, which made me a little wary at first (I typically don’t believe in censoring art to fit modern sensibilities, especially when that’s code for “American lefties* will be offended by this”). Hand on my heart, though, I have no idea what they changed, so it probably wasn’t so important to begin with
* It bears saying that I’m neither American nor a leftie; my politics, if anything, lean center-right. Which, in any democracy that isn’t the US, is not a bad thing. (Arguably, the US isn’t quite a “democracy” right now, either.)
So, which Kaidan mod should you get?
If you like Dan Lemon, Kaidan’s original VA, stick to Kaidan 2.
If you want a fresh take on the character, go for Kaidan Revoiced: Community Expansion (KRCE). It’s a little barebones right now, but the new VA (Paul Warren) knocked it out of the park. His voice might take some getting used to if you’ve played with the original mods for years like I did. It’s 100% worth it.
If you like Bishop, don’t mind a bajillion sexual innuendos (and constant talk about piss), and AI-generated NPC voices don’t bother you, get Kaidan 2: Extended Edition or Kaidan 2: Immersive Features, depending on how much you care that certain mod authors are problematic themselves.
P.S.: I’ve been told certain members of a certain discord server love to harass people they disagree with. If that’s you, get a grip and/or therapy.
