Meeting Illia is already the best part of clearing Darklight Tower – but everything can be improved with the right mods.
As the daughter of a Hagraven-worshipping witch, Illia has the skills to defend herself against anyone. In fact, she’s one of the few characters with the experience needed to remain calm in a Draugr-infested catacomb or in the face of, well, Hagravens!
That said, traveling with Illia can be a little scary. After all, her character design is simply appalling.
The following mods tackle everything from AI bugs to Illia’s attractiveness, each making her a little better.
Illia has the perfect dark origin story to become a fearless hedge mage, but something about her design is undeniably sinister.
If you wish for Illia to join you on your adventures without people thinking you’ve turned to the dark side, a character makeover like Illia Redone is the way to go.
This mod changes Illia’s face from pale and ghastly to a young, healthy-looking beauty with only a scar left by a Hagraven’s talons to remind her of her dark past.
It also swaps her regular Black Mage Robes for Apprentice Robes of Restoration to further show her new, positive outlook on life.
You don’t need to change Illia’s skin tone or even remove the heavy eyeshadow to change your perception of the character.
She needs a short trip to the hairstylist… and maybe a plastic surgeon.
GLAM Illia gives this frost mage an extreme Glam Girl makeover, taking her from “scary and creepy” to “sexy and enigmatic” with just a few clicks.
The subtle serpentine lines under her eyes suggest lasting corruption after growing up in a Hagraven cult. They keep the character grounded in her backstory despite changing her looks.
For a much more delicate change, consider Chao’s Improved Illia.
This mod helps Illia leave her past identity behind, washing off all that makeup and spending time under the sun to regain some color.
Like many other Illia makeovers, this one retains a scar under her left eye to reflect everything she’s been through.
You’ll notice it also fixes some AI bugs in the original Illia, makes her marriageable and adds some new perks (replacing Ice Storm for Icy Spear, for example).
After killing Illia’s diabolical mother and finishing her quest, she’ll mention that she intends to “leave everything from this cursed place behind.”
And yet, whenever she’s not following you, she keeps hanging around Darklight Tower for the remainder of the game.
Juniper’s A House for Illia fixes this small narrative oversight by placing a modest cottage around the mid-point between Darklight Tower and Snow-Shod Farm.
Now, she’ll live there comfortably whenever you don’t need her. You might also bump into her shopping at Riften from time to time.
Someone being groomed to become a Hagraven wouldn’t know the first thing about looking good.
But who cares about realism?
Juliada is a custom Breton Necromancer follower that doubles as a high-poly replacer for either Serana or Illia. It’ll turn the ugly destruction mage into a hottie reminiscent of Ada Wong in Resident Evil 4.
Once freed from her blood binds to the Hagraven cult, Illia is free to pursue her real passion: Frost magic.
Illia the Frost Witch makes her appearance match her skills in battle. She looks like a slightly unhinged practitioner of the frosty dark arts, which fits her character perfectly.
This mod is 100% standalone, meaning you don’t need to get any extra mods for Illia to look just as intended, other than your preferred body type mods like UNP or BHUNP.
The mod also boosts her sorcery, allowing her to quickly summon Frost Atronachs and generally making her a lot more valuable as a follower.
Gothic Illia might not be the most high-poly replacer for the Darklight witch, but it’s definitely the most coherent with the character’s vibe in vanilla Skyrim.
By transforming her facial structure and giving her a hand with makeup, this mod makes Illia the best version of herself.
She’s still pale and wears heavy eyeshadow, but it looks like she actually had a mirror when applying her makeup and doing her hair this time.
Now, she’s a goth icon comparable to Morticia Addams or Elvira, Mistress of the Night.
If Gothic Illia is the best makeover in Legendary Edition, Faithful Companions provides the #1 Illia makeover for Special Edition.
This mod completely transforms Illia by changing her facial structure into an exotic beauty.
If I had to draw a comparison, I’d say she looks like Sibel Kekilli, who played Shae in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Admittedly, there’s very little of the original Illia in this makeover – but the exotic look and mixed heritage are appropriate for someone living off-the-grid in a Hagraven cult.
Maybe she was a baby stolen from a foreign ship in her childhood or just the product of intermingling with Daedra. Whatever the case, this Illia is much more beautiful and intriguing than the original.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
