I just got a copy (Basic not GOTY unfortunately) of Oblivion for the PC at last after 3 years of having it for Xbox. First thing on my mind is a good companion mod... I'm looking to hire human fighter type mercenaries as companions. Suggest a good mod?

Companion Vilja is pretty amazing. I have been playing with that mod (I almost said her) for the last month or so. There simply is no real comparison to any other companion mod. Fully voiced, with excellent in-game mechanics to control behavior, plenty of options including YOU being HER companion, and there is a whole class of mods that have made that work as a compliment. You should really check out the read me, and take your time with setup, because this is no ordinary mod. It also worth nothing that this thing is still being worked on after five years. As impressive a life-form as you will find in any game.

http://lovkullen.net/Emma/Vilja.htm

One of the other popular ones is "Ruined Tail's Tale". I've heard it's excellent, but I've never actually played it myself.

I've never played any companion mod, to be honest. I'm ever the archer, and annoyances I've had with vanilla followers with regards to archery have made me somewhat leery of trying them(that and I play a heavily modded game, so compatibility might be an issue).

hmm...

If you want a companion who's good at archery, Neeshka might be worth a look-see. She comes with an alternate ESP geared specifically for archery. She's a fine all-round companion as well. Voiced too, though unlike Vilja Neeshka's voice is derived from creatively altered original dunmer utterances.

I ran Neeshka during much of my first play-through, but sadly abandoned her near its end. In my particular installation she began to suffer A.I. overload and might even have contributed to it. After a while she'd stop executing many of her various functions. I'd need to exit and reload the name every so often to correct this. Vilja, who I run this play-though, does not suffer from overload at all.

In any case, as a dedicated archer Neeshka might be the better of the two, thanks to that ESP. Otherwise my nod goes to Vilja. (If not for Neeshka's overload issue I might well run both.)

Another vote for Vilja.

again another vote for vilja. I can't imagine playing oblivion without her. the dialog is amazing! and that is just the begining she holds her own in battle as well. and just when i thought it couldnt get any better i also added a couple homes by emma as well that have even more interaction and options for her. there are also several other companions that vilja will recognize and even interact with. though one companion as life like as vilja is all i can handle . she has an option where you can tell her to be quiet. but ive never had the heart to use that so i just let her ramble as its part of her charming char.

i had started out with just CM companions which adds quite a few companions who will hang out in taverns and various other locations waiting for you to approach them and ask them to join you . but now the only reason i keep them around is to add a few more npcs to the world.