Ashe – Crystal Heart (Legendary Edition) v1.1.4
Ashe: Crystal Heart – A DLC-sized journey with 3,000+ lines and deep character development. Voted #1 Mod of the Month (SE, Dec 2024) and #3 Most Popular of 2024, Ashe is a fully-voiced Breton follower on a path that begins with vengeance and evolves into introspection, offering emotional, quest-driven depth unseen in Skyrim.
DLC requirements:
– Dawnguard
– Dragonborn
– Hearthfire
July 7th Announcement – Ashe Legendary Edition Port Now Live!
The Legendary Edition backport is now available! It’s fully playable, though slightly less functional compared to the Special Edition version. I’m currently working on porting over hair physics*, animations, Bodyslides, and improving facial texture quality.
*Please note: some features may not reach full parity with SE. Ashe was originally built for SE, and certain systems – especially physics and animation – don’t always behave consistently when backported. I’ll do my best to bring functionality as close to 1:1 as reasonably possible.
This release is best considered an open beta. While I’ve tested the port myself (with help from some SE users), there’s no way to guarantee a flawless experience on all LE setups.
If you encounter any bugs or visual issues, please report them so I can investigate and improve things over time.
For Bodyslide users: official conversions are in the works – but fan-made ports are fully permitted and encouraged. Stay tuned!
Ashe v1.1.0 Update Now Live! What started as a mini-patch has become a major update: new quests, expanded dialogue, the Ashe Plug healing device, refined backstory, and the debut of a lore-based player nickname. More content, deeper narrative, and groundwork for what’s coming next. Check the changelog for full details!
If you enjoy the mod, please consider endorsing, and thank you for your support!
What Does This Mod Do?
Ashe: Crystal Heart is a Skyrim mod that introduces Ashe, a fully-voiced Breton* follower with over 3,000 lines of rich, character-driven dialogue. This mod offers a deeply personal and introspective journey, delving into themes of identity, purpose, and morality – bringing a depth unseen in Skyrim.
DLC-Sized Questline
Embark on a DLC-sized quest spanning all of Skyrim, offering hours of new content – half the scope of Dawnguard. Uncover the secrets of Ashe’s creation and assist her unique quest. Your choices shape her evolving ethical compass, leading to multiple outcomes. When vengeance is achieved, Ashe must face her past and forge a new purpose in a world that struggles to understand her.
Dynamic Super Follower
Ashe is a dynamic companion whose relationship with you evolves based on your choices. Unlock extensive features gradually, including:
– Training and Sparring: Improve your skills together.
– Custom Outfit System: Outfits change automatically based on location.
– Blacksmithing Services: She can forge and improve your weapons.
– Backpack Storage: Extra carrying capacity.
– Immersive Commentary: Reacts to your skills, actions, and locations.
– Radiant Features: Includes sleep, teleportation, and tracking markers.
Evolving Relationships
Develop friendship and romance organically. Ashe doesn’t just throw herself at you; your actions genuinely influence the relationship dynamics, not just scripted events. The friendship and romance systems are nuanced, moving beyond simple binary choices.
Advanced Technical Enhancements
– Custom Animations: Exclusive to this mod, enhancing her unique personality.
– Next-Gen Visuals: HD textures, unique texture sets per character, and HDT physics support for hair and outfits.
– Compatibility: Built-in support for Open Animation Framework, OStim Standalone, and Expressive Facial Animations for lifelike animations.
– Optional Integration with Attack – MCO (Modern Combat Overhaul): If MCO is installed, Ashe features unique, custom movesets tailored to her combat style.
– Bodyslide-Ready Outfit: Supports all popular body types.**
Original Design and Lore Integration
Ashe features an original character design that blends the stylized aesthetics often found in JRPGs with Skyrim’s more grounded fantasy world. This fusion of styles is intentional, aiming to create a visually unique and memorable character. The mod also takes great care to expand upon Skyrim’s existing lore, ensuring Ashe’s presence feels believable and integrated. You’ll find NPCs in key locations like Solitude, Whiterun, and Riverwood who acknowledge and interact with her, and discover hand-crafted locations designed with environmental storytelling in mind that help to explain her unique nature.
Renowned Voice Cast
Experience unparalleled depth with an ensemble cast of renowned voice actors, including:
– Anna Rust (Carnival Row, Cyberpunk 2077) as Ashe.
– Sean Chiplock (Genshin Impact, Re:Zero) among others.
Limitless Potential
With future content updates planned – companion banter with Serana, quest awareness, and additional questline material.
*She’s not Breton in the conventional sense. Without getting into spoilers, play the mod to find out!
**Bodyslide Backports still WIP. Stay tuned for conversions, otherwise fan conversion permissions are open!
Accolades
– Hot Files
– #1 Mod of the Month for December 2024
– Ranked #3 Most Popular Mod of 2024 (Mod of the Month Rankings)
– Covered by GamingBible
– Featured on Zero Period Productions, Arjarim, PonPon, Swiizles, SkyrimGTX, Syn Gaming, Ikari’s Gaming Zone, and Capt. PandaYT
– As of January 19, 2025, nearly 2,600 endorsements since its November 30, 2024 release, making Ashe one of the fastest-growing follower mods.
Ashe’s Design Philosophy
I drew inspiration from a mix of stylized games and fantasy anime – think NieR: Automata, Baldur’s Gate 3, The Witcher 3, Berserk, and Claymore. I worked hard to keep Ashe grounded in Skyrim’s lore, giving her unique abilities and a backstory that justifies her look.
Think of her this way: if Clare and Guts had a daughter, she grew up sparring with BG3’s Shadowheart, got fashion pointers from 2B, then found herself in Skyrim grappling with existential angst – yet still manages to be effortlessly cool and undeniably attractive.
I’ve listened to feedback on her outfit too – check out my “Design Details” article for the full story.
How Did This Mod Come To Be?
After creating Serana Dialogue Add-On, I wanted a fresh challenge: an original character with her own quests and personality. Ashe represents everything I’ve learned so far as a modder, from writing to voice acting and quest design.
Mod Requirements
This mod works right out of the box with no hard requirements. However, my mod integrates with others pretty well, so please read below to see what they are!
Mod Integrations (Optional, anything marked with “SE” is currently an SE-only integration at the moment)
– Nemesis and DAR/OAR (SE): For custom animations. Without the mod, you won’t be able to see some unique flavor/dialogue/combat animations.
– HDT-SMP (SE) : For outfit and HDT hair physics support. Without the mod, Ashe’s hair will still work, it’ll just be static.
– SKSE: For additional functionality (mainly for backend mod checks).
– EFA (Expressive Facial Animations) (SE) : Improves facial animations. Non-EFA setups are also supported.
– RSkyrim Children Overhaul (SE): For a “non-potato head” patch for Remy. Without it, Remy will look like any other Skyrim child.
– OStim Standalone (SE): Enables animated romance scenes. Without this, romances will fade to black.
– MCO (Modern Combat Overhaul) (SE): If installed, Ashe has unique combat movesets designed specifically for her, adding dynamic and immersive gameplay. Without this, her combat reverts to basic Skyrim animations but will still use replacers for the default Skyrim animations.
Compatibility
Ashe was designed with compatibility in mind, but some conflicts may arise due to Skyrim’s extensive modding ecosystem.
Known Issues:
Location conflicts (e.g., Aryo’s Workshop, Riverwood Commune).
Specific mod issues (e.g., Improved Alternate Conversation Camera, VR).
Quick Installation Instructions (PC)
NOTE: Ashe LE currently does not have a FOMOD. For now, just install the archive, plug and play!
– (Optional) Install the soft requirements.
– Download and install the FOMOD.
– Run through the installer options.
– Place Ashe near the bottom of your load order. This ensures her mod wins conflicts, which is critical for her questline to function correctly.
– Bodyslide Setup:
– – If you chose a custom outfit, build meshes in Bodyslide.
– – You can select between heels or non-heels for Ashe’s boots.
– – While the mod functions without Bodyslide, skipping this step may result in minor seams, clipping, or mismatched body meshes.
– Run Nemesis to enable her unique animations.
– Launch the game and enjoy!
Important Notes:
– Prologue Saves: Use at your own risk! To upgrade from the Prologue mod, dismiss/disable Ashe, travel to a new cell, uninstall the old version, and then install the new version.
– Closed Beta Saves: Generally safe to update, though some fixes may not retroactively apply based on quest progress. Refer to the changelog for details.
Dialogue Voices:
The impressionist voices were carefully crafted with attention to quality and consistency, ensuring an immersive experience. If they are not to your liking, a patch is available to disable them; however, I encourage you to try them out first. For unofficial AI voice patches, permissions are open—please contact me directly to discuss.
Bug Reports:
Ashe: Crystal Heart is my most ambitious mod, and while extensively tested, unique issues may still arise due to diverse setups. Bug reports are welcome, but please:
– Ensure correct installation and load order.
– Test and document the issue thoroughly.
– (Optional) Check for conflicts in xEdit and share findings.
For detailed steps, see the pinned post in the comments section. Thank you for helping improve the mod!
