Massive updates for SE, FNV & DAO guides are out + fundraiser update
Skyrim SE: Around 80 new mods, more merging marks and some descriptions/instructions corrections. Fallout New Vegas: The biggest update in the history of the guide so far - over 300 new mods, lots of text/UX improvements and the ultimate module, New Vegas Legend, updated to version 2.0. Dragon Age Origins: over 30 new mods (including a brand new, complete overhaul for items and enemies in the game) plus more compatibility and mod tweaking notes. Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and Starfield guide updates are coming shortly as well 👀
Want to thank me for the work, support future updates and help my family affected by the war? Month ago, russian missile attack completely destroyed appartments of my dad, leaving him without home.
We've (with the help of amazing community - that's you!) already managed to raise 35% of the rest of needed sum to get him a new home away from the active warzone. If you are willing to help - consider to contribute at our fundraiser page for a one-time donation, or at my Patreon if you want to support me on monthly basis to help me be truly independent as an author. There's no small contribution here and I'm grateful to everyone who is pledging. Thank you! ❤️
Core graphics mods
Grass mods
Mountains, rocks & stones
Night sky
Weather & lighting
Clouds & fogs
Settlement mods
Landscape overhauls
The rest
Body & skin mods
NPC overhauls
UI mods
Low-end tips
Quests & new lands
Dungeons
Armors, weapons, artifacts
Followers
Player homes, castles, hideouts
Creatures & factions
Magic, spells, enchantments
Overhauls
Music & sounds
Gameplay improvements
Combat
Alchemy
Encounters & population
New gameplay features
Needs & survival
Other immersion mods
Animations
Utilities & tiny mods
Finishing steps
YES, THE GUIDE FULLY SUPPORTS BOTH AE & SE :3
MAJOR UPDATE 5.75 IS HERE! MAKE SURE TO READ THE CHANGELOG
Ever wandered which modding capabilities Witcher 3 has? Dive into ultimate TW3 modding now!
About this guide:
This guide is a brother of my Skyrim LE graphics and gameplay guides, in a single one - and a result of many months of modding Skyrim. My goal is a complete guide to save other people time that they can have a complete base list of mods for ultrarealistic graphics and challenging, nextgen gameplay, knowing how much these mods will affect on performance and in what order they should install the mods, which are compatible and which are not, etc. Skyrim has over 100 thousand of mods available and that's quite a task to check them all, but I spent some time and did this, and chosen almost everything you need to transform your game and also to have some variants of similar type of mods to choose from. List of 4500+ mods (but at the same time "quality about quantity", including different variants to choose from) to install to make your Skyrim graphics look nextgen and gameplay feel on absolutely next level - everything structurized properly so you can build both 50 and 1500 mod setups, depending on your goal. Installation order, performance notes, patches list and personal recommendations included.
This guide has both graphics and gameplay parts, two in one. For graphics mods installation, the [installation] order matters the most - so, for the best results, it's humbly recommended to follow the same order as mods are listed. For gameplay guide, installation order doesn't matter, but load order does, so read the mod pages/my own notes if preset carefully. Also you can check the videos at my YT channel to see how game can look when fully-modded. To make guide navigation easier, I placed guide sections into so called "spoilers" - when you see "Show" button - just click on it to expand corresponding group of mods. Click "Hide" again to close it :) Please also note that this guide is still designed for modern rigs - yet, guide also has section for low-end rigs, and many other advises here and there, as well as performance-hungry mods marked - so, you can build an ultimate setup for your own PC, no matter what it strength is.
But here comes another exciting part! Guide also has so called "modules" - a premade mod lists (don't confuse with mod packs please) for different tastes and goals - which you only need to mimic, without worrying about incompatibilities and other issues. Modules will fit perfectly to the people who don't have enough of free time to go through whole guide themselves.
Feel free to suggest any mod you want to see in this list or ask me any compatibility/stability questions I'm running Skyrim without any crashes and issues with about 1500 mods installed - and you can have even more and still have your game fully stable. That's not some kind of exaggeration - everything you need is to follow the guide attentively :)
Permissions:
Do not re-upload this guide to other website and/or resources, do not claim it as own work and do not sell it. In the rest - feel free to translate into other languages (just message me in Discord first), I'd be glad if you'll link it to help other people and so on. I'm here to serve - the more people can have stable ultramodded game, the happier I will be :)
Guide features:
- Complete list of graphics and gameplay mods for ultimate nextgen game, 4500+ mods in total. Landscapes, clutter, flora, weather & lighting, armors, clothing & weapons, towns & villages, body, face & skin mods, combat, magic & perks, creatures & factions, quests, new lands & dungeons, survival & utility - and much, much more. Not a single texture will remain ugly after you finish this, and all possible gameplay mechanics will be improved, as well as tons of new ones can be added, hell yeah!
- Everything you need yet nothing excess. Not a huge mod list, filled with subjective choices, yet a roadmap showing you how to build your own dream setup. While, if you lack time - there are some mod lists prepared for you, in [addition] to guide itself.
- Detailed installation order.
- Comfortable and easy-to-navigate design.
- Patches list for compatibility and my personal remarks for the best result.
- Performance notes.
- List of all basic things/tools/tweaks you need to start modding and have stable game.
- ENB installation guide + tweaks/fixes advice.
- The biggest problem of heavy-modded games, script overload, didn't go anywhere in SE, unfortunately - game script engine, Papyrus, was not changed and having too many script-heavy mods may break even the most stable game. Worry not! Many script-heavy mods are marked with special
mark in the guide, so you'll know in advance which mods you'll need to be careful with. - Merging the mods easier then ever before! Mods that can be easily merged in a few click - marked with a special
sign - so you don't need to spend own time checking for many factors. Currently, more than 200 mods are marked already, meaning that's literally more than 200 mods you can merge straight away, and I will expand this gradually. - Separate section for low-end PC owners (which you can still use even if your PC is strong, to have FPS boost).
- Pre-made mod lists for different tastes and goals, which you only need to mimic and don't worry about incompatibilities and other issues - in addition to the whole guide itself. The ultimate module, Fatherland Saviour, is now available as well.
- Constant updates and support :)
How to Support:
This project is completely free. Still, it takes insane amount of my time to build and expand it - the modding guides and other related modding content already took me over 7,500 working hours in total. I'm also living in Ukraine during the russian invasion, and have to support two families at once. The extra work I'm doing to support our defenders, air raids and PTSD caused by the war also make every inch of the work I do more difficult than before. The more independent and confident I will fee myself as an author - the less stress and more free time I'll have - and so, the faster new updates and videos will arrive, and new projects will appear as well. But support only if you really want it and able to:
Current guide version, changelog & future updates:
Version: 5.75 for Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim Anniversary Edition, at March 2024. Medium-to-large update.
- Around 90 new mods.
- Added some new merging marks, improved several descriptions/instructions and removed around a dozen of obsolete mods.
- To report the issues with the guide (typos, broken links etc) - please drop a message in #suggestions_to_sinitar room in our Discord server.
Version: 5.5 for Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim Anniversary Edition, at October 17, 2023. Large update.
- Around 115 new mods.
- Added couple dozens merging marks, improved several descriptions/instructions and removed several obsolete mods.
- Fatherland Saviour, ultimate module, updated to version 2.0
- To report the issues with the guide (typos, broken links etc) - please drop a message in #suggestions_to_sinitar room in our Discord server.
Version: 5.1 for Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim Anniversary Edition, at September 2023. Minor update.
- Added around 20 new mods, removed several obsolete mods and patches, fixed some typos and improved descriptions/notes for certain mod lines.
Version: 5.0 for Skyrim Special Edition and Skyrim Anniversary Edition, at August 2023. Major update.
- Around 240 new mods in total for you to pick. To find them easily, look for marks
- Outdated mods or those not needed as better alternatives were added, were removed
- The "Fatherland Saviour", most complex and feature/content packed module ever, is out!
- Some extra sections refurbishing and typo correction.
- Lots of new merging marks, for both new and existing mods - over 800 mergin marks in total now, to make your merging process drastically easier.
Future updates:
- Atm - fixes of typos and broken links, if present
- New modules
- More merging marks
An example of how your game can look like in simple before/after comparison:
Q: What are the PC specs needed to run the same modded setup as you do, to have [best] possible graphics and gameplay?
A: Not such NASA PC as you may think! Intel i5 6600k or AMD analogue, GTX 980Ti/1070 or AMD analogue, 16GB RAM - with similar specs you'll be be able to run absolutely monstrous setup with everything retextured, all needed lighting/weather/immersion mods, at ultra settings, with any ENB you want, 3D LODs and so on. Yes, this guide is made for ALL rigs - no matter if your PC strong, not that much or a complete potato - you can find recommendations, and build best possible modded game.
Q: So I should install ALL mods from this list?
A: You technically can ofc, but that's not mandatory. This is a guide - it gives you an ability to compare and choose. Open mod pages, browse the images, read the description. Install what you like and don't install what you don't like :) Lastly, there are pre-made mod lists for you to mimic.
Q: What kind of monitor is the best for modded Skyrim and what resolution should I play at?
A: In-depth yet easy to understand article here, give it a read.
Q: I have the game in language other than English, is it a problem?
A: The guide is made for original, i.e. English version of the game. Graphics mods will ofc work fine in most of cases, but as for the gameplay mods, there is no guarantee that they will work with non-English version of the game, or work at all. Moreover, many translations are often outdated which leads to various bugs and conflicts. If you want to be able to use Skyrim modding stage and this guide on its fullest, use English version of the game. I won't be able to give any troubleshooting support for non-English versions.
Q: I also want to install ENB, where's a tips for it?
A: Sure! Whatever you want - it is here ;) Just read a bit further.
Q: I got infinite loading screen/my game crashes/I have FPS drops while having a modern rig.
A: Please read "How to start" section carefully. Read it and install all the things needed before starting to install mods themselves.
Q: That doesn't help!
A: Trust me, if you have read everything carefully and installed mods carefully, it will solve all your problems in 99% of cases. If not, feel free to join our Discord server and community members or I will try our best to help you :)
Q: Where are you from? A few words about you?
A: Ukraine. Gamer, One Piece & JJBA fan and gym addict living through the russian genocidal invasion. Web-developer in past, fitness trainer and nutritionist now (as hobby asides from content creation).
Q: Will you expand this guide and add this/that?
A: Sure - I will update and improve it. Unstoppably :)
Q: Ok, guide just received massive update, but how can I see the little new additions?
A: I add mods and fix text errors few times per week. All the mods freshly added to the guide will be marked with red-colored "==NEW==" sign.
Q: Wait, why the popular [mod_name] is not here?
A: One of the main goals of the guide always was to keep your game stable. There are some absolutely great and popular mods, but the thing is popularity now always equal same great quality and stability. Some mods are not included simply because they have major or too many minor issues and not fitting concept of stable heavy-modded game. Nothing more besides that.
Q: Can you just upload your Skyrim folder with all your mods somewhere so I can just download it and not to choose and install mods one by one?
A: Unfortunately, no. The reasons:
Firstly - I can't do this as many mods from the list are Nexus-excslusive and mod authors didn't give a permission to re-upload their works somewhere. I respect their work.
Secondly - everyone has absolutely different PC specs and different taste, and my setup can be absolutely unplayable for many people from both these aspects.
Trust me - when you're making your mod setup by yourself the result will be way better because most of mods are absolutely matter of taste.
Q: But there are a lot of modpacks in internet. I saw them. Even enxusmods itself have modpacks hosted, right?
A: Of course. Modpacks are easy to find and get, but it's also one of the main reason of myth about "heavy-modded fully stable Skyrim isn't possible" exists. For very same reasons, modpacks simply can't run the same good for everyone. In best case, modpacks is very, very subjectively made pick of mods, which will never fit your taste on 100% and almost always filled with arguable and outdated mods. In worst case, it will just break your game eventually. And if you're installing some list of mods via automated tool, even if all the mods are installed in correct order, you still will have to solve a lot of conflicts, merge mods, make bashed/merged patches, setup the MCMs and so on - and that's the point when you'll have no idea what to do, as this mod list was not made by you. From that point, you can either play the game as is, which will lead to glitchy gameplay and eventually a lot of wasted time, or you'll have to go to point zero and learn about all the mod in the modpack yourself, basically, doing what you had to to from the very beginning, but once again, wasting some time. Modpacks are like those ads in internet that are promising you 6-pack in 7 days without diet and training. There's no "magic button" in case of TES or FO games, and it's no matter who made it - random internet person or they are distributed by some popular authors or websites - it doesn't change anything in terms or aspects listed few lines above. Modpacks [can] work for other games with much smaller and simplier modding stages, yet for TES/FO games the only [real] ultimate game, in both graphics and gameplay terms, is the one you've built yourself <3
Q: That's all cool and everything, but I wanna stay tuned on updates and have modding chatting, something you can offer?
A: Sure! Just join our Discord server - the most experienced Discord Bethesda modding community.
A: Not such NASA PC as you may think! Intel i5 6600k or AMD analogue, GTX 980Ti/1070 or AMD analogue, 16GB RAM - with similar specs you'll be be able to run absolutely monstrous setup with everything retextured, all needed lighting/weather/immersion mods, at ultra settings, with any ENB you want, 3D LODs and so on. Yes, this guide is made for ALL rigs - no matter if your PC strong, not that much or a complete potato - you can find recommendations, and build best possible modded game.
Q: So I should install ALL mods from this list?
A: You technically can ofc, but that's not mandatory. This is a guide - it gives you an ability to compare and choose. Open mod pages, browse the images, read the description. Install what you like and don't install what you don't like :) Lastly, there are pre-made mod lists for you to mimic.
Q: What kind of monitor is the best for modded Skyrim and what resolution should I play at?
A: In-depth yet easy to understand article here, give it a read.
Q: I have the game in language other than English, is it a problem?
A: The guide is made for original, i.e. English version of the game. Graphics mods will ofc work fine in most of cases, but as for the gameplay mods, there is no guarantee that they will work with non-English version of the game, or work at all. Moreover, many translations are often outdated which leads to various bugs and conflicts. If you want to be able to use Skyrim modding stage and this guide on its fullest, use English version of the game. I won't be able to give any troubleshooting support for non-English versions.
Q: I also want to install ENB, where's a tips for it?
A: Sure! Whatever you want - it is here ;) Just read a bit further.
Q: I got infinite loading screen/my game crashes/I have FPS drops while having a modern rig.
A: Please read "How to start" section carefully. Read it and install all the things needed before starting to install mods themselves.
Q: That doesn't help!
A: Trust me, if you have read everything carefully and installed mods carefully, it will solve all your problems in 99% of cases. If not, feel free to join our Discord server and community members or I will try our best to help you :)
Q: Where are you from? A few words about you?
A: Ukraine. Gamer, One Piece & JJBA fan and gym addict living through the russian genocidal invasion. Web-developer in past, fitness trainer and nutritionist now (as hobby asides from content creation).
Q: Will you expand this guide and add this/that?
A: Sure - I will update and improve it. Unstoppably :)
Q: Ok, guide just received massive update, but how can I see the little new additions?
A: I add mods and fix text errors few times per week. All the mods freshly added to the guide will be marked with red-colored "==NEW==" sign.
Q: Wait, why the popular [mod_name] is not here?
A: One of the main goals of the guide always was to keep your game stable. There are some absolutely great and popular mods, but the thing is popularity now always equal same great quality and stability. Some mods are not included simply because they have major or too many minor issues and not fitting concept of stable heavy-modded game. Nothing more besides that.
Q: Can you just upload your Skyrim folder with all your mods somewhere so I can just download it and not to choose and install mods one by one?
A: Unfortunately, no. The reasons:
Firstly - I can't do this as many mods from the list are Nexus-excslusive and mod authors didn't give a permission to re-upload their works somewhere. I respect their work.
Secondly - everyone has absolutely different PC specs and different taste, and my setup can be absolutely unplayable for many people from both these aspects.
Trust me - when you're making your mod setup by yourself the result will be way better because most of mods are absolutely matter of taste.
Q: But there are a lot of modpacks in internet. I saw them. Even enxusmods itself have modpacks hosted, right?
A: Of course. Modpacks are easy to find and get, but it's also one of the main reason of myth about "heavy-modded fully stable Skyrim isn't possible" exists. For very same reasons, modpacks simply can't run the same good for everyone. In best case, modpacks is very, very subjectively made pick of mods, which will never fit your taste on 100% and almost always filled with arguable and outdated mods. In worst case, it will just break your game eventually. And if you're installing some list of mods via automated tool, even if all the mods are installed in correct order, you still will have to solve a lot of conflicts, merge mods, make bashed/merged patches, setup the MCMs and so on - and that's the point when you'll have no idea what to do, as this mod list was not made by you. From that point, you can either play the game as is, which will lead to glitchy gameplay and eventually a lot of wasted time, or you'll have to go to point zero and learn about all the mod in the modpack yourself, basically, doing what you had to to from the very beginning, but once again, wasting some time. Modpacks are like those ads in internet that are promising you 6-pack in 7 days without diet and training. There's no "magic button" in case of TES or FO games, and it's no matter who made it - random internet person or they are distributed by some popular authors or websites - it doesn't change anything in terms or aspects listed few lines above. Modpacks [can] work for other games with much smaller and simplier modding stages, yet for TES/FO games the only [real] ultimate game, in both graphics and gameplay terms, is the one you've built yourself <3
Q: That's all cool and everything, but I wanna stay tuned on updates and have modding chatting, something you can offer?
A: Sure! Just join our Discord server - the most experienced Discord Bethesda modding community.
Now, the first and most important rule. No exceptions:
Before you start reading, watch this short video:
- Before you'll start modding. Disable Steam overlay, Afterburner overlay, add Skyrim to your antivirus/firewall "white list". Disable all possible overlays, "boosters", "tuners" programs you may be using in general. All of them can and most likely will screw up your modded game and/or it's many settings.
- Also, make sure to disable autosaves in SkyrimPrefs.ini (set bSaveOnPause, bSaveOnTravel, bSaveOnWait and bSaveOnRest to 0).
- Do not use CC's (Creation Club) Survival Mode. It has way better alternative on the modding stage listed in this guide, and the mod itself is quite wonky.
- Follow the guide slowly without a rush. If it's written here to limit your fps using enblocal fps limiter - do it, and don't use and third-party software for it, and so on. You got the idea. Also, never have Skyrim installed in Program Files (or other system folder like Documents/Windows/AppData etc). If you have it there - reinstall it on another drive, or at the same drive, but out of Program Files folder. Lastly, it's heavily recommended to disable game autoupdates in Steam.
- If the mod has different main file versions for SE and AE, make sure to get a proper one - or to choose a proper version in the FOMOD installer, is such is provided.
1) Download and install mod manager.
Choose between Nexus Mod Manager (use the .exe file), Mod Organizer 2 or Kortex Mod Manager . All 3 of them are great mod managers, each with something own to benefit player. What's the difference? NMM is "simple yet effective". MO is a mod manager packed with tons of cool features, mod manager on steroids if we can say so. Kortex is something in between, more similar to MO, but has own pros and cons over it (look here for comparison). Almost all mods can (and should) be installed via mod manager. Do not install mods manually. The guide contains notices regarding some exceptional cases when you'll need to install some mod/part of mod manually, but for the 99.9% of cases - always use mod manager. You may also find these NMM tutorial, MO2 tutorial (installation and setup video, general usage playlist here) and Kortex info page useful. Extra note: If using MO2, make double, triple sure you have watched the tutorial linked and know how to use it properly before asking for troubleshooting support :)
IMPORTANT NOTE #1:
Kortex mod manager was tested by myself for working properly - I liked it, just don't personally prefer it over MO2 or NMM. Also, it's not quite the most popluar mod manager, so it lacks usage tutorials, and you'll need to learn how to use/troubleshoot it yourself. Due to the same reason, I won't be able to provide Kortex troubleshooting support in Discord - but once again, it's a great mod manager and you should be absolutely feel free to try it.
IMPORTANT NOTE #2: Do not use Vortex to mod Skyrim.. It's looking pretty fancy visually, but sadly, it's very glitchy and pretty dysfunctional. I won't be able to provide any troubleshooting support if you're using it.
2) Download and install SKSE. If you allready have it - great. If no - install it. It's obligatory.
SKSE is [essential]. Stability mods are also working through it, as well as vast majority of amazing gameplay mods. Consider it a basic invisible evolution element of Skyrim.
Make sure to download the correct version! 1.7.3 is for Skyrim LE - you don't need that at all now. If you have [exactly] the Skyrim SE version of the game (1.5.97, you can right-click on the game .exe file and see the version there) - get SKSE for 1.5.97. If you're on AE (it's still named Skyrim Special Edition in your game library, it's the .exe that differs) - get the current AE version, and VR version for VR. Download the archive somewhere, unpack it. From the folder, get the .dll, .exe files and \Data folder, and place them to your Skyrim SE/AE folder, as showed here (SKSE for AE and GOG do not have the "steam_loader" file btw, that's normal). MO users should archive the \Data folder and install it as any other mod trough MO (you can do the same in NMM as well if you wanna). From now on, launch your game only via SKSE (skse64_loader.exe), not the game regular launcher.
3) Download and install SkyUI.
As mod itself, SkyUI is basically a "PCfication" of ugly vanilla Skyrim interface. On practice, it's also required by most of well-known mods in addition to SKSE. Also install this fix for it, this (get the ESP version), this and this. Lastly, if you're on latest AE version (and only in this case, it's not needed for SE) also install this ==NEW== to fix SkyUI issues caused by the latest Skyrim AE updates messups.
Optionally (but very recommended as it's just looks so much more alive and beautiful) install animated icons mod for it (make sure to choose "Celtic" icons type in SkyUI MCM for this mod to work). Also optionally, install this "wider" addon for MCM look. Also install iHUD.
4) Download and install LOOT.
LOOT is a must-have tool if you're planning to have many mods. It's very easy to install and use.
Its most basic and important function is mod sorting. Many mods should be loaded in strict load order to work properly together. "This mod should be loaded before that mod, but after that", and so on. LOOT makes miracles! You can automatically sort most of your mods properly by just clicking a button twice. Sometimes (it happens rarely, so you probably won't have to think about it) some mods have direct instructions about how they should be loaded, in this case it's also easy to sort them manually using it. Also, LOOT shows you all you need to know about your installed mods - errors, missing records etc. In many cases, if something is not right - it will let you know and it will advise you. In most of cases, you' won't need to read and learn more than this to use it, but if something is unclear or you want to learn advanved usage of LOOT (which can come in handy from time to time), check this awesome video. Use LOOT sorting each time after you've installed a few mods.
5) Install Address Library for SKSE Plugins.
Note: make sure to get a proper mod version, depending on whether your game version is SE or AE. If you're on Skyrim "VR", get this one instead.
This mod is a partial solution to endless game update issues in SE (which breaks dll SKSE mods) - it allows for such mods to keep working properly not depending on the game version. Solution is partial because it doesn't work automatically - each dll SKSE mod must be updated by its author to depend on this one, and as not all authors are aware about this or just active, this solution won't be universal - but it clearly will help you with many mods which are usually broken after every update. Also, install this (make sure to get proper version too, depending on whether you're modding SE or AE).
6) Install SSE Engine Fixes.
Note #1: Mod has TWO parts - first main file, the "Part 1" you can install with mod manager. Second, "Part 2", you should download manually, unpack and place all 3 .dll files to your Skyrim root folder (where Skyrim exe is).
Note #2: If you're using Skyrim VR, get this instead.
Note #3: If you're 100% sure you've installed the (correct version) of the mod properly, but game refuses to launch properly, in the mod configuration file (EngineFixes.toml as for now), set the "EnableAchievementsWithMods" (without quotes) parameter to 0 instead of 1. Additionally, you can also try to set "SaveAddedSoundCategories" and "SaveScreenshots" to False.
7) Install Bug Fixes SSE.
Fixes some SE engine bugs. In its configuration file (BugFixesSSE.json), disable the Magic Effect Conditions fix (set magicEffectConditions to false instead of true). Pick the proper mod version carefully from the "Files" tab depending on your game version.
8) Install SSEEdit.
It's an awesome tool for cleaning your mods, making changes to mod records (like balancing various values up to your taste, deleting conflicting and/or unneeded objects and so on) and more.
Mods may contain "dirty" records and some other issues, and when you have hundreds of mods, that could be a problem and cause crashes. Clean all mods that have dirty records (until it's directly written by mod author to not do that for some reason) and all Skyrim's DLCs (which have [hundreds] of dirty records. Yeah - Betheshda didn't even bother to do this for the game "remaster"). Don't be afraid of it, it's not as hard to use as it may look. Check these awesome video tutorials about it. Also there is a lot of info and videos on its Nexus page.
Note #1: Make double sure to clean all base game master files (Update.esm and all 3 DLC .esm plugins) - otherwise you'll experience random crashes.
9) Install Wrye Bash.
Get the installer version and install it. WB is an amazing and essential tool to achieve maximum possible compatibility between all your mods.
We will use it later in our journey, so just grab it for now. I'll explain it later in the guide :)
Note: if you'll be noticing you're clearly going above 255 active .esp plugins limit somewhere still in process of adding more and more mods - refer to step #2 in "actions to be made in the end" section at the deep bottom of the guide.
10) Download zMerge (highly recommended) or Merge Plugins.
Yes, Merge Plugins is hosted in Skyrim LE sections and yes, it does work with SE absolutely fine. At the other hand, zMerge works just fine with all mod managers, no just MO2 (big thank you Euphemia for once pointing me on this). You will need this if you'll make really heavy load order and reach the 255 plugins (.esp) limit. By merging mods, you can technically have almost endless amounts of mods installed, so you will be limited only by your PC specs and mods themselves (meaning no using broken/dangerous mods and not overloading your game with script-heavy mods). These tool (once again, zMerge is recommended over Merge Plugins) easily merges plugins into one .esp file, drastically decreasing the total amount of plugins and allowing you to install more and more mods. If using zMerge, also make sure to install this and this.
But why zMerge over Merge Plugins? Simply said, it's more powerful and will allow you to merge more easily compared to Merge Plugins tool. For A to Z simple tutorials about using zMerge or Merge Plugins, watch these tutorials here (for Zmerge) and here (for Merge Plugins).
Note: But what about .esl'fying the mods? It's allegedly a cool feature, so maybe we don't need to merge mods at all anymore? There is a bit more about that - indeed, marking plugins as .esl is a new alternative way of not reaching the 255 plugins limit, but: 1) not all the same mods you can merge can be esl'fied, so sooner or later, you'll eventually need to merge mods anyway 2) esl/ified plugins have some specific bugs 3) Some other mods, especially mods with dynamic patchers (like ASIS, Bashed Patch etc) simply don't recognize .esl plugins [AT ALL], meanining that if you'll, let's say, have 200 esl plugins, and then build a Bashed Patch (which is essential for any medium-to-heavy modded game), all the changes/additions, whatever those plugins are doing, will be not present in your game with utmost chance, making them meaningless to begin with. The sooner you'll learn how to merge mods (guide provides assistance with this), the better it will be for you - moreover, as soon as you'll get the basics, you'll see there's nothing to fear at all :3
SOME mods are fine to be used as esls, and if for some of the mods/patches you're using there's no alternative asides of the esl version of its plugin - install it. The explanation/solution to this will is mentioned in the end of the guide.
11) Install [ONE] of these mods:
- Alternate Start - Live Another Life
Install the voiceover addon on top of the main mod (+ optional addons here , here, here or here ).
- Skyrim Unbound Reborn
- RASR - Random Alternate Start Reborn
- Realm of Lorkhan - Freeform Alternate Start
- Optional Quick Start
Why you need this? These mods provide wide amount of alternative starts to the game for those who do not wish to go through the lengthy intro sequence at Helgen. The thing is that vanilla start (scene in Helgen) is VERY heavy-scripted. And when you will install let's say, 200+ mods and start a new game, your Skyrim will be very heavy overloaded. And there's very high chance that your game will crash (because the Papyrus, Skyrim's script engine, was [not] updated in SE and it's same clunky and limited), even if the game itself is absolutely stable. And now these mods save the day! You can just skip this heavy-scripted scene and start anywhere you like. Besides, they have a really wide amount of alternative start, great for roleplay.
Which one to use, what is the difference? Long story short, ASLAL provides more "roleplay-wise" starts - you will appear in a certain cell, depending on your start option choice, and also has plenty of additional start options addons.
Unbound will spawn you randomly, so less "immersive" start, but it allows you highly adjustable character customization (gear, spells etc) which ASLAL doesn't, and the most important - it allows you to play as NON-Dragonborn (but you can "become" it in MCM anytime), which is really a great option.
RASR is somewhat like a mix of these two, a pretty underrated gem and Realm of Lorkhan is a really fresh and unique alternate start mod, which may look note quite "lore-friendly" to some players, but it's really well-designed and give you very interesting starting choices for your character class and even curses - negative attributes to balance class bonuses (if you want so, all these features are entirely optional - my only 2 cents about it is that some class bonuses are still somewhat too strong even with curses, so you may want to adjust them in SSEEdit, which is very simple). Lastly, Realm of Lorkhan has on pretty immersion-breaking (for some players) thing - crystals you appear from after starting the game are not going anywhere and are just scattared across Skyrim. To remove them, use this patch. Also, make sure to install this fix.
Optional Quick Start is a super-simple alternative, which is not quite "alternate start" mod, but rather "skip Helgen into" one.
12) Install Backported Plugins Support ==NEW== Long story short, in the game update from December 5, 2023, Bethesda broke not only SKSE mods again (the "usual" thing), but also mod plugins compatibility with the new game version. This SKSE mod will fix the issue. Install it if you're on SE (1.5.97) as well, as it'll be needed for some of the newer mods to work properly as well.
13) Get the Cathedral Assets Optimizer This step is optional. Easy-to-use tool to convert meshes/textures from LE to SE (and backwards as well). This tool will help you to have the best from both game version in terms of such kind of mods.
14) [Optional] - try Disc Cache Enabler This step is optional. Use disk cache for IO for less disk activity and improve performance if Starfield is installed on HDD. If you're playing on SSD, there won't be much difference, most likely (or just a bit) - but for HDD, this one can result into noticeably improved performance depending on your PC specs. If you're on AE, get the first (top) main file. If you're on SE or VR, get the "Universal" one from Archived Files.
15) The last in this section, but important and mandatory step.
Install all these amazing mods/patches/fixes which are oriented on fixing huge amount of various little bugs or irrational things in game or just to make you your game much more comfortable.
Note: Make sure to install proper versions of mods (where needed) for your SE/AE game version - thus, don't use the "Vortex" download button, but always go to "Files" tab and download proper mod version from there.
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch This mod should be already considered as part of vanilla game. It fixes literally thousands glitches and bugs in Skyrim. Note: if you're modding the SE version of the game (1.5.97, not AE) [or] using AE without CC "DLCs", simply use the latest SE version of the patch from here (add the file to your mod manager and install as usually). .NET Script Framework Required by some other things. Framework for memory editing, native code hooking and writing DLL plugins in any .NET language. Also provides crash logs which are sometimes and somewhat useful (only for SE - for AE, install this ==NEW==). RaceMenu Character creation menu how it should have been originally and great amount of customization options. For Skyrim SE (1.5.97), get the "RaceMenu Special Edition v0-4-16" version (direct download link in case of what). Also get this (make sure to - but only if you're on SE, not AE) and this. Stay At The System Page NG This mod brings back the behavior of original Skyrim's Journal Menu. Whenever you press the Escape key, mod will open the System page instead of Quest page. Muh convenient! Better Dialogue Controls + Better MessageBox Controls Ever pick the wrong item in a dialogue with a NPC or struggled with not cozy controls in messagebox popups? No more! 1st Person Candlelight Fix Have you ever been annoyed that the candlelight spell is much brighter in 3rd person view than 1st person view? This mod aims to reduce that difference and make them more equal. Note: Don't let any other mod overwrite it, in case of what. Also, if you're modding Skyrim "VR", use this one instead. Better Jumping SE Allows to jump while sprinting. Equip Enchantment Fix Fixes engine bugs where item enchantments don't apply when equipped or stop working while the item is still equipped. SKSE64 plugin. Major Cities Mesh Overhaul Improves meshes and also some textures of many buildings, terrain meshes and other objects, which are used in the major cities of Skyrim. Assorted mesh fixes Fixes various issues with vanilla Skyrim meshes that caused them to render incorrectly. Don't Stay in The Water Fixes the bug that stupid enemies may stay in the water and look at you angrily but just don't come up. Scrambled Bugs A collection of several misc engine bug fixes, including couple of dll alternatives to existing plugin form of some bugfifixes. Get the proper version (SE/AE) and read the mod description page for the list of features and (possible) compatibility notes. Optional mod files are also recommended to install.
Note: enable the "attachHitEffectArt" (set to True instead of False) in ScrambledBugs.json file. powerofthree's Tweaks Similar thing here as well, as well as plenty optional QOL (quality of life) options. If you're in Skyrim "VR", install VR version instead. Barter Limit Fix SKSE plugin that fixes trading with merchants with more than 32,767 gold. Sprint Sneak Movement Speed Fix Fixes the game applying wrong movement speed if the character draws, sheathes or shouts while sprinting or sneaking Atlas Map Markers - Updated with MCM Essential mod that drastically increases amount of map markers. Remember how you was able to fast travel only to Whiterun itself or Dragonsreach? Now you can fast travel to Arcadia's Cauldron, Jorrvaskr etc. More than 700 new map markers! Make sure to endorse the original mod. Weapons Armor Clothing and Clutter Fixes + Armor and Clothing Extension These two mod fix hundreds of bugs and inconsistencies for Skyrim's weapons, armors, clothing, jewelry, and clutter items and add more diversity and lore-friendly clothing options and gives NPCs more appropriate attire. Complete Crafting Overhaul Essential mod from author of previous two fixes. CCOR is reworking all vanilla craft recipes, offers many options for mining, chopping, smelting and so on - simply making everything crafting-related to be logical and really interesting. That's why you need it even if you never actually crafted a single thing in Skyrim - because now it's not that dull crafting system. Consider it as the vanilla part of the game as it always should have been from the release. Most of mod options can be enabled/disabled and configured via MCM. Navigator - Navmesh Fixes Navmesh improvements (read - NPCs getting stuck as idiots in some places) for dozens interiors in Skyrim. CritterSpawn Congestion Fix A fix for the critter (bugs, fish etc) spawner that decreases the general script load of your game. Unequip Quiver An SKSE plugin which removes the quiver/bolts when equipping weapons and spells or when the character unequips the bow or crossbow. Improved version of "Auto Unequip Ammo" mod. More Informative Console This mod edits the UI to show a great deal of additional information on npcs, items, and other objects when the console is opened, similar to the way MFG console worked for Skyrim LE. It may help you in various cases of game testing and possible issues solving. ConsoleUtilSSE NG Needed for some other mods. Fuz Ro D-oh - Silent Voice An SKSE plugin that adds support for unvoiced in-game dialogs. Isn't doing anything by itself, by it's needed for many mods for mod-added dialogues to work properly. Base Object Swapper A utility SKSE plugin, will be needed for some other mods further in the guide. AnimObject Swapper Mod of a similar kinds for animations, will be used by some mods too. powerofthree's Papyrus Extender SKSE64 plugin that extends Papyrus (Skyrim's script engine) functionality - needed for couple dozens mods in this guide, install and forget. Headpart Whitelist ==NEW== SKSE plugin that removes unnecessary NPC only/broken headparts from racemenu, which was causing issues and sometimes could cause crashes. Lightened Skyrim - Base Object Swapper edition ==NEW== Gain FPS across Skyrim with no visual difference. New version of the well-known original mod - now, without plugin and working entirely through Base Object Swapper. Save Unbaker Makes the game always load certain records (such as NPC weight and persistent ref position) from plugins instead of save, lightening the save size as a result.
Note: Make sure to install proper versions of mods (where needed) for your SE/AE game version - thus, don't use the "Vortex" download button, but always go to "Files" tab and download proper mod version from there.
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch This mod should be already considered as part of vanilla game. It fixes literally thousands glitches and bugs in Skyrim. Note: if you're modding the SE version of the game (1.5.97, not AE) [or] using AE without CC "DLCs", simply use the latest SE version of the patch from here (add the file to your mod manager and install as usually). .NET Script Framework Required by some other things. Framework for memory editing, native code hooking and writing DLL plugins in any .NET language. Also provides crash logs which are sometimes and somewhat useful (only for SE - for AE, install this ==NEW==). RaceMenu Character creation menu how it should have been originally and great amount of customization options. For Skyrim SE (1.5.97), get the "RaceMenu Special Edition v0-4-16" version (direct download link in case of what). Also get this (make sure to - but only if you're on SE, not AE) and this. Stay At The System Page NG This mod brings back the behavior of original Skyrim's Journal Menu. Whenever you press the Escape key, mod will open the System page instead of Quest page. Muh convenient! Better Dialogue Controls + Better MessageBox Controls Ever pick the wrong item in a dialogue with a NPC or struggled with not cozy controls in messagebox popups? No more! 1st Person Candlelight Fix Have you ever been annoyed that the candlelight spell is much brighter in 3rd person view than 1st person view? This mod aims to reduce that difference and make them more equal. Note: Don't let any other mod overwrite it, in case of what. Also, if you're modding Skyrim "VR", use this one instead. Better Jumping SE Allows to jump while sprinting. Equip Enchantment Fix Fixes engine bugs where item enchantments don't apply when equipped or stop working while the item is still equipped. SKSE64 plugin. Major Cities Mesh Overhaul Improves meshes and also some textures of many buildings, terrain meshes and other objects, which are used in the major cities of Skyrim. Assorted mesh fixes Fixes various issues with vanilla Skyrim meshes that caused them to render incorrectly. Don't Stay in The Water Fixes the bug that stupid enemies may stay in the water and look at you angrily but just don't come up. Scrambled Bugs A collection of several misc engine bug fixes, including couple of dll alternatives to existing plugin form of some bugfifixes. Get the proper version (SE/AE) and read the mod description page for the list of features and (possible) compatibility notes. Optional mod files are also recommended to install.
Note: enable the "attachHitEffectArt" (set to True instead of False) in ScrambledBugs.json file. powerofthree's Tweaks Similar thing here as well, as well as plenty optional QOL (quality of life) options. If you're in Skyrim "VR", install VR version instead. Barter Limit Fix SKSE plugin that fixes trading with merchants with more than 32,767 gold. Sprint Sneak Movement Speed Fix Fixes the game applying wrong movement speed if the character draws, sheathes or shouts while sprinting or sneaking Atlas Map Markers - Updated with MCM Essential mod that drastically increases amount of map markers. Remember how you was able to fast travel only to Whiterun itself or Dragonsreach? Now you can fast travel to Arcadia's Cauldron, Jorrvaskr etc. More than 700 new map markers! Make sure to endorse the original mod. Weapons Armor Clothing and Clutter Fixes + Armor and Clothing Extension These two mod fix hundreds of bugs and inconsistencies for Skyrim's weapons, armors, clothing, jewelry, and clutter items and add more diversity and lore-friendly clothing options and gives NPCs more appropriate attire. Complete Crafting Overhaul Essential mod from author of previous two fixes. CCOR is reworking all vanilla craft recipes, offers many options for mining, chopping, smelting and so on - simply making everything crafting-related to be logical and really interesting. That's why you need it even if you never actually crafted a single thing in Skyrim - because now it's not that dull crafting system. Consider it as the vanilla part of the game as it always should have been from the release. Most of mod options can be enabled/disabled and configured via MCM. Navigator - Navmesh Fixes Navmesh improvements (read - NPCs getting stuck as idiots in some places) for dozens interiors in Skyrim. CritterSpawn Congestion Fix A fix for the critter (bugs, fish etc) spawner that decreases the general script load of your game. Unequip Quiver An SKSE plugin which removes the quiver/bolts when equipping weapons and spells or when the character unequips the bow or crossbow. Improved version of "Auto Unequip Ammo" mod. More Informative Console This mod edits the UI to show a great deal of additional information on npcs, items, and other objects when the console is opened, similar to the way MFG console worked for Skyrim LE. It may help you in various cases of game testing and possible issues solving. ConsoleUtilSSE NG Needed for some other mods. Fuz Ro D-oh - Silent Voice An SKSE plugin that adds support for unvoiced in-game dialogs. Isn't doing anything by itself, by it's needed for many mods for mod-added dialogues to work properly. Base Object Swapper A utility SKSE plugin, will be needed for some other mods further in the guide. AnimObject Swapper Mod of a similar kinds for animations, will be used by some mods too. powerofthree's Papyrus Extender SKSE64 plugin that extends Papyrus (Skyrim's script engine) functionality - needed for couple dozens mods in this guide, install and forget. Headpart Whitelist ==NEW== SKSE plugin that removes unnecessary NPC only/broken headparts from racemenu, which was causing issues and sometimes could cause crashes. Lightened Skyrim - Base Object Swapper edition ==NEW== Gain FPS across Skyrim with no visual difference. New version of the well-known original mod - now, without plugin and working entirely through Base Object Swapper. Save Unbaker Makes the game always load certain records (such as NPC weight and persistent ref position) from plugins instead of save, lightening the save size as a result.
Congrats, you're ready now!
Before you start, download this little software:DDS VIEWER
It's a free, small and awesome tool that allows you to open .dds (texture) files just like any other images. Doing this, you can compare same textures from different mods and decide which one to install. It's a must-have tool.
P.S. Installer .exe file doesn't contain eny viruses. Just ignore your antivirus.
P.P.S. If you have problems with it on Windows 10 and you're NVIDIA user, try this.
P.P.P.S. If you're happy Photoshop owner, simply install this plugin instead and enjoy.
Important tip #1: During the installation process, overwrite all the files when you will be notified about this. There will be a few cases when you not need to overwrite some files or you need to install texture partially/manually, but I will notify about it.
Important tip #2: To install 200 mods and then launch your game is not a best idea. I personally recommend to do in this way: install a few mods (let's say 5-7 if these mods are big, 20-25 if small), sort them with LOOT, launch your game, check it's stable. Install 5 more and so on.
Important tip #3: Don't use the "Vortex" button on top of mod pages to download the mods. This button automatically downloads the main version of the mod and that's it - it may be not the version you need, it may be not the only file you need etc. So make a good habit now - never use this button. Instead, always just go to "Files" tab and see what files are there.
Important tip #4: Don't use 4k textures untill you have 4k monitor with huge monitor size itself and you have Titan videocard and you're not aiming for screenarchery (like shotting a bugs or leaves). You won't see any difference between 4k and 2k textures until you come absolutely closely to them. 2k is perfect option for 1920 and even higher (2k) monitors. Using 4k textures you'll just waste tonns of VRAM but won't notice this actually. Using 2k will save tonns of VRAM and you're still having beautiful textures. The only where you can install 4k textures are interior cells (caves/mines etc) as interior use much less VRAM and some underground creature retextures (Dwemer/Falmer) due to the same reasons, as well as personal standalone armors/weapons mods. If your PC is not the strongest, or you just want to save some VRAM for something else - for example, latest ENB effects or 3D LODs from DyndoLOD - simply don't waste your memory on that. Graphics quality will be just fine.
Q: But why "waste" of VRAM?
A: It's pretty simple. Texture is basically a square img file. Most of people are used to think that 2k uses x2 more VRAM then 1k, and 4k uses x4 more VRAM then 1k, for example. But as texture img is a square, we will receive a bit different values. 1x1=1. 2x2=4. 4x4=16. So as you can see, 2k textures actually use x4 more VRAM compared to 1k, and 4k use x16 more VRAM, which will be not a big deal for people on beefy rigs, but can be also a dealbreaker for ones one mid to low end rigs.
Let's go!
It's a free, small and awesome tool that allows you to open .dds (texture) files just like any other images. Doing this, you can compare same textures from different mods and decide which one to install. It's a must-have tool.
P.S. Installer .exe file doesn't contain eny viruses. Just ignore your antivirus.
P.P.S. If you have problems with it on Windows 10 and you're NVIDIA user, try this.
P.P.P.S. If you're happy Photoshop owner, simply install this plugin instead and enjoy.
Important tip #1: During the installation process, overwrite all the files when you will be notified about this. There will be a few cases when you not need to overwrite some files or you need to install texture partially/manually, but I will notify about it.
Important tip #2: To install 200 mods and then launch your game is not a best idea. I personally recommend to do in this way: install a few mods (let's say 5-7 if these mods are big, 20-25 if small), sort them with LOOT, launch your game, check it's stable. Install 5 more and so on.
Important tip #3: Don't use the "Vortex" button on top of mod pages to download the mods. This button automatically downloads the main version of the mod and that's it - it may be not the version you need, it may be not the only file you need etc. So make a good habit now - never use this button. Instead, always just go to "Files" tab and see what files are there.
Important tip #4: Don't use 4k textures untill you have 4k monitor with huge monitor size itself and you have Titan videocard and you're not aiming for screenarchery (like shotting a bugs or leaves). You won't see any difference between 4k and 2k textures until you come absolutely closely to them. 2k is perfect option for 1920 and even higher (2k) monitors. Using 4k textures you'll just waste tonns of VRAM but won't notice this actually. Using 2k will save tonns of VRAM and you're still having beautiful textures. The only where you can install 4k textures are interior cells (caves/mines etc) as interior use much less VRAM and some underground creature retextures (Dwemer/Falmer) due to the same reasons, as well as personal standalone armors/weapons mods. If your PC is not the strongest, or you just want to save some VRAM for something else - for example, latest ENB effects or 3D LODs from DyndoLOD - simply don't waste your memory on that. Graphics quality will be just fine.
Q: But why "waste" of VRAM?
A: It's pretty simple. Texture is basically a square img file. Most of people are used to think that 2k uses x2 more VRAM then 1k, and 4k uses x4 more VRAM then 1k, for example. But as texture img is a square, we will receive a bit different values. 1x1=1. 2x2=4. 4x4=16. So as you can see, 2k textures actually use x4 more VRAM compared to 1k, and 4k use x16 more VRAM, which will be not a big deal for people on beefy rigs, but can be also a dealbreaker for ones one mid to low end rigs.
Let's go!
Q: What is ENB? Why I ever need it?
A: Ok, listen, young padavan. ENB is a graphical enhancement engine that adds visual affects that are not supported by the game initially, at all. Proper antialiasing, real HDR, qualitative bloom, ambient fog effects, various new shaders, ambient occlusion, complex particle lighting, depth of field and much-much more. ENB is also a PC-only engine - that's why modded Skyrim graphics are looking so superior compared with Skyrim graphics on consoles.
Q: I have the feeling ENB in SE doesn't look same good as in LE...am I hallucinating?
A: You aren't. The thing is, indeed, ENB in Skyrim SE is not able to look the same good as in LE. But wait, SE is 64bit and LE is 32bit, and SE is newer, how come, you may ask. Yeah, but all those facts are not related with ENB possilities, in which SE engine is somewhat limited because of running on DX11, while LE is running on DX9. Long story short, ENB works different on DX11 and has less powers. It doesn't support some features and has overally weaker shaders quality and features quantity in general. Lastly, it often has less (or none) customization options for many essential shaders (see the comparison here). All together, this leads to worse look and much smaller diversity of ENB presets compared to LE. If you are aimed on 101% of modded graphics results, you may want to mod Skyrim LE (which is literally fully stable today even heavy-modded, and sometimes, even more stable than modded SE as SE introduced more bugs/crash cases which never existed in LE to begin with) instead, following my existing guide.
Q: How much FPS will ENB eat? How do I know that?
A: First of all, you need to understand that ENB is ofc FPS-hungry and as it interracts with objects in game and adds a lot of visual effects, ENB performance will depend on several factors - how many effects are turned on, what your PC specs are etc. But ENB effects are totally and more than worth their price :) Also, in SE, almost all ENB presets make more or less same FPS hit, so if you can normally run one ENB preset, you most likely will be able to run any preset without issues.
Q: Why installing ENB before the graphics mods? Texture mods are most important, no?
A: No. The thing is, as already mentioned, ENB adds completely new shaders and visual effects to the game - that's why it's the most important part of graphics transformation. A game with good ENB preset and no texture mods at all will always look better than game with even 200 texture mods but no ENB. ENB preset is very much determining the visual style your game will have - so first, it's better to decided which ENB preset you like the most and get it, and then tune your game with retexturing and other mods.
Q: But what about weather/lighting mods? ENB preset I want to use requires that weather mod!
A: Don't worry. You can install weather/lighting mods required anytime. Weather/lighting "incompatibility" with ENB will not cause crashes, it's just about how the ENB colors and other effects are looking the best possible exactly with required weather/ligting mods.
Q: My PC/laptop is pretty weak and ENB gives me really low FPS!
A: Rrefer to the end of the guide where I prepared a section especially for low-end PCs - most likely it will allow you to use ENB even if your PC is pretty weak (up to some extent, ofc).
Q: I saw your videos and I like that ENB, what's the name?
A: I'm using the amazing Rudy ENB for Obsidian Weathers.
A: Ok, listen, young padavan. ENB is a graphical enhancement engine that adds visual affects that are not supported by the game initially, at all. Proper antialiasing, real HDR, qualitative bloom, ambient fog effects, various new shaders, ambient occlusion, complex particle lighting, depth of field and much-much more. ENB is also a PC-only engine - that's why modded Skyrim graphics are looking so superior compared with Skyrim graphics on consoles.
Q: I have the feeling ENB in SE doesn't look same good as in LE...am I hallucinating?
A: You aren't. The thing is, indeed, ENB in Skyrim SE is not able to look the same good as in LE. But wait, SE is 64bit and LE is 32bit, and SE is newer, how come, you may ask. Yeah, but all those facts are not related with ENB possilities, in which SE engine is somewhat limited because of running on DX11, while LE is running on DX9. Long story short, ENB works different on DX11 and has less powers. It doesn't support some features and has overally weaker shaders quality and features quantity in general. Lastly, it often has less (or none) customization options for many essential shaders (see the comparison here). All together, this leads to worse look and much smaller diversity of ENB presets compared to LE. If you are aimed on 101% of modded graphics results, you may want to mod Skyrim LE (which is literally fully stable today even heavy-modded, and sometimes, even more stable than modded SE as SE introduced more bugs/crash cases which never existed in LE to begin with) instead, following my existing guide.
Q: How much FPS will ENB eat? How do I know that?
A: First of all, you need to understand that ENB is ofc FPS-hungry and as it interracts with objects in game and adds a lot of visual effects, ENB performance will depend on several factors - how many effects are turned on, what your PC specs are etc. But ENB effects are totally and more than worth their price :) Also, in SE, almost all ENB presets make more or less same FPS hit, so if you can normally run one ENB preset, you most likely will be able to run any preset without issues.
Q: Why installing ENB before the graphics mods? Texture mods are most important, no?
A: No. The thing is, as already mentioned, ENB adds completely new shaders and visual effects to the game - that's why it's the most important part of graphics transformation. A game with good ENB preset and no texture mods at all will always look better than game with even 200 texture mods but no ENB. ENB preset is very much determining the visual style your game will have - so first, it's better to decided which ENB preset you like the most and get it, and then tune your game with retexturing and other mods.
Q: But what about weather/lighting mods? ENB preset I want to use requires that weather mod!
A: Don't worry. You can install weather/lighting mods required anytime. Weather/lighting "incompatibility" with ENB will not cause crashes, it's just about how the ENB colors and other effects are looking the best possible exactly with required weather/ligting mods.
Q: My PC/laptop is pretty weak and ENB gives me really low FPS!
A: Rrefer to the end of the guide where I prepared a section especially for low-end PCs - most likely it will allow you to use ENB even if your PC is pretty weak (up to some extent, ofc).
Q: I saw your videos and I like that ENB, what's the name?
A: I'm using the amazing Rudy ENB for Obsidian Weathers.
Some of the best Skyrim SE ENB presets comparison:
Before installing the ENB, make a few tweaks/installations for ENB to work and look 100% properly:
- Disable ingame DOF (depth of field) like it's shown here.
- In Skyrim SE launcher settings, disable Ambient Occlusion.
- In Skyrim SE launcher settings disable the improved snow options, or in SkyrimPrefs.ini (make sure you're editing the one in \Documents ( if you're using NMM) or MO's own folder (if you're using MO), not the one inside the game \Skyrim folder), set bEnableImprovedSnow= value to 0.
- Note: If you're using Mod Organizer, this has to be disabled in MO ini in corresponding directory - set the fDynamicDOFBlurMultiplier, bSAOEnable and bEnableImprovedSnow values 0.
- In SkyrimPrefs.ini, make sure bDrawLandShadows= and bTreesReceiveShadows= values are set to 1.
- In SkyrimPrefs.ini, make sure fGamma= value is set to 1.0000.
- Install particle patch for ENB. Download the archive, add it to your mod manager and install as any other mod.
- Install Picta Series - Improved Sky Meshes.
- Install ENB Light Inventory Fix.
- Install ENB Helper.
Note: If you're on latest game version, get this one ==NEW== instead. - Install Auto Parallax. SKSE plugin which automatically disables parallax on meshes which have missing height textures or conflict with single-pass shaders, and thus, saving you from some headache automatically.
- [Optionally] - install ENB Extender for Skyrim. For expanded/improved ENB shaders control in GUI. Requires this.
- Now, install the ENB binaries (core files) themselves: go here and download the latest version. Unpack the archive and from \WrapperVersion folder, grab d3d11.dll, d3dcompiler_46e.dll and enblocal.ini, and place them to your Skyrim SE root folder (where game .exe is located). That's it!
- Choose and download the ENB preset you like and drop it's content to the same folder (where Skyrim .exe is). Usually, it's simply the \enbseries folder and enbseries.ini file. Basically, the process of siwtching between ENB presets is as simple as deleting your current \enbseries folder and enbseries.ini and placing a new ones into Skyrim root directory. That's it.
- Make sure to cap your fps at 59 in enblocal.ini (set EnableFPSLimit= to true and FPSLimit= to 59).
- Antialiasing: there are a few options. First one - use the edge AA from ENB (set EnableEdgeAA=true in enblocal.ini). Second one - don't use ENB AA and use TAA (set in game launcher settings). Third one - use ENB SMAA. Not every ENB preset provides it - usually you can choose it in ENB GUI (like in Rudy ENB, for example). Fourth one - DSR (dynamic super resolution). With DSR enabled, game is rendered in higher resolution than your monitor resolution is and then squeezed to your monitor resolution. The difference between those methods: Edge AA is the most simple and fps-friendly, but the also not perfectly smooth (yet still superior to awful ingame AA). TAA is looking very good, but often causes weird "ghosting" artifacts when moving. SMAA is the best in terms of fps price and quality. DSR is superior to any of them, but the most fps-hungry due to how it works. Try all of them and choose the one most suitable for you. If you have somewhat midrange rig, it's either Edge AA, SMAA or TAA. If you have pretty strong rig and video memory is not a problem for you at all, try DSR for sure.
- Also look here to see a few options for parallax option for SE ENB.
- Not a tweak itself, bur rather a useful info that not everyone are aware about: DOF (depth of field, "blurred effect/focus") is usually different for each ENB preset - as certain author sees it better in own perspective. Some ENB presets may have "lightweight" gameplay DOF - so only very distant views are blurred. Some may have a very strong "screenarchery" DOF - when everything further then a few feets from your character is blurred. And so on. So often it may happen you find an ENB preset greatly fitting your taste, but with terrible (for your taste) DOF. You can, ofc just disable it in ENB GUI, but there's a better thing - you actually can use [any] DOF with [any] ENB preset! Even more, you can actually even use DOF files between different TES/FO games - for example, I'm using Rudy ENB LE DOF in New Vegas and Oblivion, and so on. So just find ENB preset which DOF you like the most and just take it's DOF files (enbdepthoffield.fx and enbdepthoffield.fx.ini) and drop them into your \enbseries folder. Profit!
ENB presets list:
When you'll be browsing the ENB presets for Skyrim SE, you may get the feeling that not all, yet many of them are very similar to each other. Unfortunately, that's how it is - due to different level of ENB support in Skyrim SE, it's not possible to have same visual quality and diversity of ENB presets as in Skyrim LE. Yet, today SE ENB presets look pretty great and so here are some of the most well-made of them, and with different styles as much as it's possible in SE. Let's see some (•̀௰•́ )
Also some shortening for weather/lighting mods you will see below: Vanilla - original game, no weather/lighting mod, Obsidian - Obsidian Weathers and Seasons, COT - Climates of Tamriel, NAT - Natural and Atmospheric Tamriel, Vivid - Vivid Weathers, Aequinoctium - Aequinoctium - Weathers and Seasons, Solas - Solas Weathers, Mythical Ages - Mythical Ages - weathers and lighting overhaul, Rustic - Rustic Weathers and Lighting, Dolomite - Dolomite Weathers - Natural Lighting Vivid Atmospherics II, Surreal - Surreal Lighting, Autumn Skies - A Weather and Lighting Mod, NLA - Natural Lighting and Atmospherics (was ported to SE in early 2021), ELFX - Enhanced Lights and FX, LUX - well, Lux :)
Rudy ENB While ENB preset choices is a matter of taste more then anything else - still, there are always some presets that are top-notch in terms of overall quality and balance. And Rudy ENB is one of them - it's my personal favorite for both Skyrim LE and Skyrim SE. It has amazing quality of shaders, a gret balance between fantasy, cinematic and realistic look, great performance. Great lighting, great water look and just absolutely polished approach to ENB tweaking in general - that's all about Rudy's preset. In addition, you can always be sure it's always uptodate with all newest ENB effects and it's also an absolute champion in terms of compatibility - it has version for almost each weather mod and compatible with all 3 popular lighting mods at the same time. If you are not quite sure about ENB choice now, but wanna start from something really great - seek no more! Weather mods compatibility: Obsidian, CoT, NAT, Aequinoctium, Vivid, Rustic, Dolomite. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX, LUX, ELE.
Rudy ENB for NAT 3 Simple as that - ENB preset from Rudy, for NAT 3 weathers. Weather mods compatibility: NAT 3 (no way :D) Lighting mods compatibility: LUX. Author plans to add more lighting mods support in future though.
THE VANILLA ENB Probably the best vanilla+ looking preset with with a nice performance attitude. One of my favourite presets right now as well. You can also try a tweaked version of it here. Weather mods compatibility: Vanilla. Lighting mods compatibility: LUX. Looks good with ELFX too.
Skies Above Weathers and ENB A bright, colorful and well-balanced ENB preset balanced between fantasy look and photorealism, with own weather mod and LUT presets to adjust its look on the fly. Weather mods compatibility: Comes with own weather additions. Lighting mods compatibility: LUX or ELFX Enhancer.
Silent Horizons ENB Greatly customizable fantasy-cinematic ENB preset with great compatibility spectrum. A member of my personal TOP-10 ENB presets list. Weather mods compatibility: Obsidian, NAT, Dolomite, Aequinoctium, Mythical Ages, Vivid. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX, ELE.
Silent Horizons ENB 2 More realism-focused and more performance-friendly preset from the author of the preset above. Weather mods compatibility: Anything. Lighting mods compatibility: Anything.
Mythical ENB Vibrant fantasy ENB preset of a great quality. A member of my personal TOP-10 ENB presets list. Weather mods compatibility: Mythical Ages, Rustic. Lighting mods compatibility: None officially supported, but looking fine with ELFX.
Ominous ENB A new ENB preset from a popular and talented ENB maker. Inspired by Grim and Somber ENB in Skyrim LE, this preset is cinematic, dark and grim. Weather mods compatibility: Obsidian. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX.
Natural and Atmospheric Tamriel ENB A successor to very popular PRT ENB, NAT ENB is an incredibly cinematic ENB preset with unique filmic touch. A member of my personal TOP-10 ENB presets list. Weather mods compatibility: None. Use ENB preset's own weather plugin. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX, ELE.
Aequinoctium ENB A bright ENB preset with a bit of photorealism touch, with cinematic and vibrant look as well. Weather mods compatibility: Aequinoctium. Lighting mods compatibility: None officially supported, but looking fine with ELFX.
GRIM ENB A new, grim preset from the author of NAT ENB. Weather mods compatibility: Looks best with own weather plugin, but can be made compatible with other weather mods - read the instructions on the mod page. Lighting mods compatibility: Same thing. Looks ok with LUX or ELFX.
Ruvaak Dahmaan ENB Simple but great, realistic preset - now for SE too. Weather mods compatibility: Vanilla. Lighting mods compatibility: LUX.
Satura ENB Stands for its name. Vibrant, saturated preset, looking a bit inspired by Tetrachromatic ENB in LE to me. Weather mods compatibility: Picturesque. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX. Looks ok with LUX too.
Naturesque Revamped Another quality preset for Picturesque, but with the opposite kind of look. Weather mods compatibility: Picturesque. Lighting mods compatibility: LUX. Looks good with ELFX too (use the provided patch).
Semirealis ENB,Intrigued ENB,NVT ENB Three modern SE ENB presets from the same author - with pretty similar look, but a bit different in details. Cold, dark and cinematic vibes with great shaders quality. Weather mods compatibility: Vanilla, Obsidian, NAT, Dolomite, Aequinoctium, Mythical Ages, Vivid, Surreal, Mythical. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX.
eisVogel v2 ENB A very vibrant preset with cinematic touch. Can be called a stripped down version of Tetrachromatic ENB for Skyrim LE (as unfortunately proper vibrant, saturated presets are not possible on the same level as it was possible in LE). If you're fan of vibrancy - this one is what you should definitely try. Also has a few color presets inside. A member of my personal TOP-10 ENB presets list. Weather mods compatibility: Dolomite. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX.
Imaginarium ENB Good-looking mix of "light" fantasy and realism. A member of my personal TOP-10 ENB presets list. Weather mods compatibility: Obsidian, NAT. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX.
Organic ENB A stripped down brother of the same named preset in Skyrim LE, it comes with good touch of realism, a bit of vibrancy and generally soft look. Weather mods compatibility: Vanilla, Vivid, Obsidian, Dolomite, COT. Lighting mods compatibility: None officially supported, but looking fine with ELFX.
Dark Shadows ENB Pretty unique-looking, dark and grim preset. Weather mods compatibility: Vanilla. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX.
Sin Xtreme Realism ENB A very realism-centered preset that also went not too far from vanilla look, but made it more contrast. Weather mods compatibility: Obdisian, Dolomite, Rustic, vivid, NAT, COT, Mythical, Aequinoctium and all weather mods of this preset author. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX, ELE.
Vividian ENB Nuff said from the name. An ENB preset for Vivid Weathers author for Vivid Weathers mod. Weather mods compatibility: Vivid. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX, ELE.
Obsidian Weathers ENB Preset Pretty much underrated ENB preset for Obsidian weathers - with really well-rounded visual balance and pretty dark. Weather mods compatibility: Obsidian. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX, ELE.
Berserkyr ENB Photorealistic preset with deep shadows. Weather mods compatibility: NAT. Lighting mods compatibility: Lux.
Desmond's Lusty ENB REDUX Somewhat photorealistic (as much as SE limited ENB is capable on that) preset. Weather mods compatibility: Vivid Weathers. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX, ELE.
Sinister ENB Somber and cinematic, somewhat "lifeless" preset. Weather mods compatibility: NAT, Obsidian, Rustic. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX.
Touch Of Natural Tamriel (TNT) ENB A mix of cinematic and natural looking preset. Weather mods compatibility: Obsidian, NAT. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX (with Enhancer).
Naturalystika ENB Realistic-to-fantasy preset. Weather mods compatibility: NLA. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX>
FNENB Super bright, photorealistic to fantasy preset, inspired by Suki ENB in Skyrim LE. Weather mods compatibility: NLA (testet to work fine with Obsidian and Dolomite too). Lighting mods compatibility: LUX.
The Truth ENB Wanna your game still look vanilla just a bit better? That's a preset for you then. Weather mods compatibility: Anything. Lighting mods compatibility: Anything.
Gameplay Performance ENB Simple, a bit brighter than original lighting, vanilla+ performance-friendly preset. Weather mods compatibility: Anything. Lighting mods compatibility: Anything.
ORIS ENB Extremely dark ENB preset not for everyone - but may be interesting for the hardcore realism/grim fantasy roleplayers. Weather mods compatibility: Anything. Lighting mods compatibility: Anything.
Picta - Weathers and ENB of Aurbis Realism-and-a-bit-fantasy ENB preset with own weather mod. Weather mods compatibility: Provides and requires own weather mod. Lighting mods compatibility: Lux.
Impression ENB - An Aesthetic Cartoon Overhaul Pretty special preset which images speak for themselves. Weather mods compatibility: Anything. Lighting mods compatibility: Anything.
Scenery ENB Vibrant, bright preset for Skyrim VR.
Pala - Custom Palettes for ENB A pack of palettes (colour overlays) which can be used with any ENB preset.
Now, let's go! To the graphics mods!
Once again, here's a simple "rule" - as the guide's task is to save your time as much as possible, installing and overwriting is very simple - just follow the lists of mods, pick what you like, install and overwrite everything ("yes to all" for NMM and giving bigger priority in MO). Mods are listed in the order which, after endless tests and mixing approaches, will lead to the most balanced and beautiful look. In some separate cases where a selective overwriting will be needed, I'll notify you :)
Also, as Skyrim SE itself requires at least somewhat decent rig to run it without issues, the overall performance impact scatter of graphics mods is different from Skyrim LE, and if you can run Skyrim SE on max settings without issues, you will be able to run most of texture/mesh mods without issues as well, so there is no need for "green-yellow-red" marking system as for Skyrim LE. Still, some mods have pretty "different" level of quality or some other details that may impact performance greatly on weaker PCs, and such mods will be marked with a special ==FPS== mark. This does NOT mean such mods will destroy your performance if you don't have "NASA PC" - but it means you should install such mods carefully (basically, testing ingame performance after such mod installation) even on strong rigs, and avoid certain options or mods entirely on weak rigs.
First of all, let's install some "core" texture/model mods that will serve us as a base:
Static Mesh Improvement Mod A core mod that greatly improves hundreds of flat vanilla models. Also grab this fix patch for it. Also install this visual upgrade, the improvement patch and small improvement patches here, here and here . During the mods installations further, we'll be adding to it and improving what SMIM already improved, even more. If you have a low-end rig but still wanna try using this mod, this optimization patch will be useful. Ruins Clutter Improved Speaks for its name clearly. Another one huge core mod with myriads of models and texture improvements for various ruins and related clutter. Deadly Spell Impacts Essential mod for HD spell impacts. Also install the ENB parallax patch.
Underground - a dungeon texture overhaul
Huge mod that greatly improves a lot of texture for all types of dungeons. Parallax addon also available here.
Bellyaches HD Dragon Replacer Pack + Bellyaches Animal and Creature Pack Revamped A base retextures for dragons and plenty of animals/critters.
Now choose between the next few mods. Basically, they all are very big packs covering +/- same amount of textures, installing one after another will severely or almost completely overwrite the first one you've installed. As an option, you can compare texture images manually and keep the ones you like, mixing these mods. But in most cases, you won't need this, especially if you're a newcomer to Skyrim modding. Same is applied to each further "choose" notifications.
SSE Texture Pack - Osmodius This texture pack can be basically considered a "vanilla plus" retexturing project. Skyrim Realistic Overhaul Another one "vanilla-wise" texture overhaul with a really huge coverage. Its disadvantage is it has plenty of unnecessary 4k texture where it's absolutely not needed - not the best optimization, in other words. But it may be a great choice if you 1) Just wanna bump vanilla textures, sticking to original look 2) Don't actually want install many other mods. Noble Skyrim Mod This beautiful and qualitative mod stands for its name - it's an amazing texture project which gives Skyrim an indeed a noble touch. One of my two personal favourites in Skyrim SE. Install full pack or get the separate standalone smaller packs for certain locations/texture types. Also don't forget to install the SMIM patch. Skyrim 202X Textures by Pfuscher Note: the current version has mostly 8k and 4k textures, which is unneeded overkill in vastly majority of cases. It's generally recommended to get the 2k or 4k (if you have high-end rig) pack here (it's from the same author).The most popular texture pack on SE Nexus - and that's absolutely deserved. Almost all Pfuscher's textures are pure piece of art - great quality, great optimization, fresh look, yet - still sticking to original Skyrim look at the same time in most of cases. Take into account - there are a lot of separate mod files at Files tab - you need to download them all, if you want maximum coverage. Also recommended to get this . Vivid Landscapes - All in One This pack doesn't give same big coverage as previous packs (mostly the landscapes and farmhouses), but it's also incredibly qualitative work and has own original look. Skyland AIO All Skyland textures in one pack. Grab the parallax patch too. You can these textures in form of smaller standalone packs for certain kind of texture from author's profile. Atlantean Landscape - Complete The Omnibus - Terrain Complex Parallax AiO Two mod good quality large terrain texture packs. aMidianBorn Buildings and Landscapes Note: This one is optional - Amidianborn textures are old but great and you may find them better to your likings then same textures covered by bigger packs above. Try and see. Skurkbro's Retexture Project (SRP) Landscapes
Same here - optional mod. It's not a complete world textures pack, changes landscape meshes and textures only, but of a stunning quality and with parallax support.
Just a few recommendations if you can't decide what to pick: 1) Get the Skyland and then overwrite it with Noble. 2) Get only Noble 3) Get the Skyland and overwrite with Pfusher's packs. 4) Get the Noble and overwrite with Pfuscher's packs. 5) Get Noble only for cities and then get Pfuscher's pack, but don't overwrite Noble's cities texture. Though, it's just my personal recommendations - always do as your heart and eyes are telling you :)
Now, caves/mines mods and few options for them. Note - for interior cells, like caves & mines, you can easily grab the 4k version of the mod if it's present - interiors eat vastly less VRAM.
4K HD Fine Mines Note: already included in Pfuscher's AIO pack above. MD's Photoreal Mines CC's HQ Mines CC's HQ Caves Gecko's Dwarven Ruins TexturesNow choose one from the next 3 mods which are retexturing Nordic dungeons somehow "forgotten" by big mods before, or just doing it better:
Skyland Nordic Ruins Gecko's Nordic Ruins Textures Rudy HQ - Nordic Ruins SE My absolute favorite between Nordic retexturing mods - the level of details is just astonishing. You can install Skyland Nordic Ruins and then this mod on top, as Skyland covers few objects not touched by this mod. Also don't forget to get all optional addons and higher resolution textures.Fine, let's move
Blended Roads Amazing mod doing exactly how it's called. One roads mod to rule them all. Also install the fix and optionally, improved textures, as well as fitting bridges retexture addon .
Now, choose between the next few mods:
Skyrim Flora Overhaul ==FPS== The most popular tree mod for Skyrim which provides better textures and mods for vanilla trees, as well as new tree models.Note #1: Until you absolutely love SFO's grass (in my opinion, other grass mods have grass handled better), install "Trees Only" (no grass) version of the mod, as grass will be handled by other mods in the section below. Owner of medium-to-low-end rigs may also find this patch useful.
Note #2: if you love this mod, but have non-pleasant FPS drops with it, try this optimized textures addon for it (overwrite the mod files). Note: Similar as with previous mod, use it only with SFO and/or Realistic Aspen Trees (make sure to grab proper version in Files tab). Mods listed below are not compatible with it and don't need it. EVT, for example, has own option for bigger trees with much better performance impact. Tree Bark in High Definition A bark texture addon.
Note: Usage - same as previous mods - with SFO, and/or RAT, and/or SBT only. Not needeed for EVT or "3D" trees mod. Enhanced Vanilla Trees ==FPS== My personal favourite tree mod for Skyrim. It greatly improves both models and textures of the trees, giving more lush and detailed look, while sticking to original appearance of the trees at the same time, and adding some trees here and there. It also has Realistic Aspen Trees included (choose it in installer options) as well as big trees option, which is the best between all similar "bigger" tree mods in terms of effect/performance hit ratio.
Myrkvior - The Flora Of Skyrim ==FPS== New, original trees overhaul with a unique look and great quality. Only moment here is that it's placing plenty of new trees across the game world as well - so if using it, test the game deeply if you'll be using landscape overhauls. Yet, it's giving a really fresh touch to Skyrim trees look and definitely worth a try. Traverse the Ulvenwald - Forests of Skyrim ==FPS== Overhauls Skyrim's Regional Flora, giving each region a unique feel and absolutely bewitching tree models quality. My favourite tree overhaul currently. Many patches available here
, here , here here , as well as hybrid 3D LODs patch here.
Fabled Forests ==FPS==
A simple, performance-friendly, but beautiful vanilla+ trees overhaul. Note: mod is still in development so you can meet some bugs like collision issues or floating trees in some places - but, mod authors gradually fixes those in every new release. Other than that, mod is a great option to look at. Also take into account that, similar to the most of the other large tree overhauls, this mod also places new trees, so test your game extensively when using other smaller landscape addon mods. This said, it's also made with compatibility in mind with some of the popular wilderness immersion mods, like CFTO or road overhauls.
BlubboDE profile
A profile is linked here as the author currently doesn't have AIO trees overhaul. At the same time, you can either grab all of his works together to reach the same effect, or use separate tree replacers on top of other large tree mods. There's also a 3D LODs addon available for them.
David's pine and Tamu75's aspen trees redux
A beautiful alternative to pine and aspen trees - can be used in combination with the bigger tree mods above.
Aspens only replacers:
Realistic Aspen Trees Retexture of aspen trees for a more realistic and diverse look. Yellow, orange and red colors.Note: Use this mod only with Skyrim Flora Overhaul or vanilla trees. EVT (listed below) has it included and "3D" trees mod (listed below) has own aspen trees modification. Green and Lush Aspen Trees An overhaul of the aspen trees for a green and lush look - can use on top of the mods above - overwrite other mods when asked if using it. Blubbos other aspen replacer Beautiful 3D aspens, with options to both "regular" (yellow) and "summer" (green) look.
Great, now a few more mods for core graphics setup:
Immersive Fallen Trees Stands for its name. A must-have mod, compatible with everyting. Make sure to install fix patch for it. Nature of the Wildlands - Forest Debris Only Optonal mod. Beautiful stumps, logs and such. SD's Farmhouse Fences For many years, "Fences of Skyrim" mod was the to-go fences mesh/texture mod, but not so long ago, a next-level 3D fences mod appeared. Grab it!. aMidianBorn Book of Silence The quality of Cabal (Amidianborn) mods simply doesn't get worse with years. It's still unrivaled for many armors/creatures/objects models/textures - we will overwrite it with some other mods here and there, but it's a solid base for armors, weapons, creatures and some unique items models and textures improvement.How to install:
- Install the mod files in this order: Armors, Creatures, Dragonborn DLC, Unique Items, Weapons. Always overwrite. Also install this patch for matching glass items look.
- Optionally, install this retexture addon for elven weapons.
- Optionally, install retextures for elven and glass armors (make sure to get SE versions). Also this addon may be interesting to you as well.
Book Covers Skyrim
The one and only mod to retexture close to every book in the game. Desaturated version recommended. After installing the mod itself, also install this (don't mind the "deprecated" note - author meant it wasn't made for the last AE version of USSEP, for SE it works just fine - and for AE, don't use it) and this . Highly recommended to also install this addon on top to get books from previous TES games semlessly injected into the game world.
Enhanced Blood Textures
The ultimate blood and blood decals texture mod. I'd recommend to install High Res Darker Color version (choosing in installer). Optionally, install this retexture on top.
Water for ENB An alternative water mod from talented mindflux, with a really beautiful look and plenty options in installer.
Note #1: if you'll be using this water mod, install it after you'll finish both "Settlement Mods" and "Landscape Overhauls" sections of the the guide below, as the mod contains patches for some of the mods there.
Note #2: choose the "No Legacy iNeed Support" option in the installer. Pure Waters Also an [alternative] to Realistic Water Two - don't use both at the same time. Download the file manually somewhere, add to your mod manager and install as usually. File is hosted by the original author of the mod. If you'll have a free moment, rate the mod here.
Simplicity of Sea - Water Mod with ENB Displacement Textures
Dust Effects Much better, more realistic dust particles look. Gemling Queen Jewelry
An almost essential HD texture and mesh replacer for rings and necklaces. If you've got the circlets option from the mod installer, also get the USSEP patch here.
JS Circlet Replacer
More epic looking circlets alternative from talented JS. Also get the USSEP patch here.
JS Unique Utopia - Rings
A complete, high-poly remake of the unique rings of Skyrim. Patches for several popular mods available at the Files tab.
addon may be interesting to you as well.
Book Covers Skyrim
The one and only mod to retexture close to every book in the game. Desaturated version recommended. After installing the mod itself, also install this (don't mind the "deprecated" note - author meant it wasn't made for the last AE version of USSEP, for SE it works just fine - and for AE, don't use it) and this . Highly recommended to also install this addon on top to get books from previous TES games semlessly injected into the game world.
Enhanced Blood Textures
The ultimate blood and blood decals texture mod. I'd recommend to install High Res Darker Color version (choosing in installer). Optionally, install this retexture on top.
Water. Choose one:
Realistic Water Two Install the main file and then ENB textures file. Also, install this fix (RWT file) and install Blended Shorelines - No more jagged water edges. There's and optional retexture addon for it here.Water for ENB An alternative water mod from talented mindflux, with a really beautiful look and plenty options in installer.
Note #1: if you'll be using this water mod, install it after you'll finish both "Settlement Mods" and "Landscape Overhauls" sections of the the guide below, as the mod contains patches for some of the mods there.
Note #2: choose the "No Legacy iNeed Support" option in the installer. Pure Waters Also an [alternative] to Realistic Water Two - don't use both at the same time. Download the file manually somewhere, add to your mod manager and install as usually. File is hosted by the original author of the mod. If you'll have a free moment, rate the mod here.
Simplicity of Sea - Water Mod with ENB Displacement Textures
Dust Effects Much better, more realistic dust particles look. Gemling Queen Jewelry
An almost essential HD texture and mesh replacer for rings and necklaces. If you've got the circlets option from the mod installer, also get the USSEP patch here.
JS Circlet Replacer
More epic looking circlets alternative from talented JS. Also get the USSEP patch here.
JS Unique Utopia - Rings
A complete, high-poly remake of the unique rings of Skyrim. Patches for several popular mods available at the Files tab.
Vanilla Skyrim's grass is absolutely hideous. Let's change that! Between the grass mods that affect all Skyrim regions, install only one. Some of the smaller mods that only affect certain region, can be installed on top of the all-covering ones.
Note #1: Always read the grass mod pages carefully, as each mod usually requires of settings in Skyrim.ini [GRASS] section. Implement them.
Note #2: If you absolutely love some grass mod, and can use it, but FPS hit is bigger than you expected, you can always play with grass density settings, namely the iMinGrassSize= value. The LOWER is the value, the DENSER is the grass - so if you wanna have more FPS, make the value HIGHER (try 80, 100 or even 120).
The next mods are optional, get a peek:
ENB Grass Collisions Applies collisions from characters to the grass to bend it. You can see a showcase here. ENB Complex Grass - Patch Compendium for various grass mods Patches for Complex Grass feature of ENB for various grass mods. Grass Addon for Veydosebrom Verdant and others Texture improvements/changes for popular grass mods above. Whiterun Grass Overhaul ==FPS== ==FPS== ==FPS== Adds beautiful green grass to Whiterun streets.Note: As a drawback, this mod will perform EXTERMINATUS your FPS in Whiterun, even on strong gaming rig. Even on GPU like RTX 2070 it may give you from 15 to 20 fps hit alone. Use with caution :) Landscape Fixes For Grass Mods If random grass clipping through some land objects is bothering you - this mod is your magic pill. For some extra dense grass mod, you may also want to install this on top. Landscape Seam Fixes Simple and great as that. Comprehensive fixing of the landscape seams that result in ugly visuals. No grass in caves If you wanna...
Note: You can also make grass to be more "windy" (sway more noticeable under the wind) by adding the next line under the [Display] in Skyrim.ini - fWindGrassMultiplier=X, where X is the value like 3,5,7, 11 etc. Experiment to your leisure :)
With the mods you have now, your game is already has an immense visual improvement in general. If you are not aimed on max results in terms of graphics, you can just skip the rest of graphics mods and continue to gameplay part of the guide. But trust me - we're only beginning! The improvement in models, textures, lighting, weathers and various little, yet important details, can be significantly better. I invite you to continue :)
Mountains mods. Some are also covering rocks. Choose one:
Majestic Mountains A retexture addon for it is also available here, as well as improved collision patch here . Northfire's Photoreal Mountains Excellent Mountains True Nordic Mountains - HD Mountain Textures 4k dark brown version recommedned. Real Mountains RUSTIC MOUNTAINS 8K Mountains CC's UHQ Mountains Vivid Landscapes - Rocking Stones and Mountains Granite Mountains Kanjs - Chromatic MountainsRocks/stones mods:
Skyrim 3D Rocks Rapid Rocks Note: included in Pfuscher's AIO texture pack. Northern Realistic Rocks
For all night sky related mods, if such a version is available, always install 2k resolution one. 4k or sometimes 8k resolution have absolutely no practical sense for these type of textures.
Galaxy/stars/nebulae retexture mods:
Inside the Nebula My favourite mod for fantasy-looking night sky. Note: Do not use the "ITN Original" 2k file version (4k version of it and all other files are fine). Lorkhans Vision - Night Sky V2 My previously favourite mod for galaxy and stars. LE version only available, install similarly to previous mod. "LV Night Sky V2 - Low Saturation for enb" version is recommended. Skyrim Textures Redone - Enhanced Night Sky Another great variant, all-in-one night sky retexturing mod with a FOMOD installer. Visually - good balance between original look and fantasy. Skygazer - Constellations HD Another HD constellations mod from Skyrim LE section. 8K Night Skies - Stars and Galaxies Retexture for galaxy and stars that sticks close to vanilla look. While actually being in 8k which makes no practical sense at all, mod still has 4k variants which you can use (or safely to compress to 2k using Ordenador or Photoshop). Nightsky 4K Galaxy 2K Masser 512 Secunda More Alien Skyrim - Galaxy Nebula Sun Sunglare and Star Definitely not much lore-friendly, but also definitely unique-looking, this mod may be interesting for those who like to transform Skyrim into something...different. 4K Stars and Galaxies Bright, beautiful, fantasy-looking retexture. STARS A "vanilla plus" type of retexture mod for stars. Stars and Galaxy of Nirn Fantasy-looking galaxy and stars. Praedy's Sky AIO My favourite here, with tons of options to choose from. Rally's Celestial Canvas ==NEW==Masser and Secunda retexture mods:
Skygazer Moons - Masser and Secunda Ultra HD My personal absolute favourite between all mods that retexture Skyrim moons. Super crisp and sticking with original look at the same time. Simply the Moons Not much realistic, but cool-looking fantasy retextures. Masser and Secunda from Morrowind Simple as that. Not the greatest texture resolution, but muh nostalgia! Ancient Moons True to the original game assets and reworked with a subtle chromatic aberration to give the illusion of distance. Moons of Nirn Fantasy-looking Masser and Secunda. Moons Sizes Changes Moon size changes for Masser and Secunda. Four different sizes to choose from, with hundreds of combinations possible. Compatible with all texture replacers. Arctic Moon Replaces Nirn's twin moons with a more conventional, luminescent lunar body.
Weather and lighting - realistic storms and snowfalls, new weathers, both grim and vibrant up to your taste, greatly improved & more realistic world lighting, and completely new immersive little things - from rainbows to rain splashes. Everything is here. Make sure that ENB presets are often tweaked for certain weather and/or lighting mod, so it won't look properly with some random weather/lighting mod installed. Incompatibility between ENB preset and weather/lighting mods does [NOT] mean your game will crash or something, but ENB may look weird. Remember this if you'll decide to switch your weather/lighting mod.
Weather mods. Choose only one:
Obsidian Weathers and Seasons
My personal favourite between all weather mods for Skyrim SE, from the authors of the most amazing weather mod for Skyrim LE - NLVA. Obsidian adds plenty of new weathers while keeping the ambience in the borders of canonic Skyrim look. Sharp and beautiful clouds, diverse weathers, volumetric mountain fogs and much more, making a beautiful, truly Skyrim'ish picture. It's also the most ENB-supported weather mod, meaning the amount of ENB presets available to choose from, tweaked for it.
You may also be interested in some addons/patches for it:
MCM Patch
Beyond Skyrim Bruma Patch
Seasonal Calendar (also works for Aequinoctium)
Note: Read the mod page carefully and install only ONE esp from many that are in the archive. Download the archive, choose plugin you want, archive it, add to mod manager and install.
Supreme Weathers for Obsidian Weathers
Improved and strengthened, harsh storms. Also install the volume control addon .
Solas Weathers
A beautiful photorealistic weather mod, inspired by NLA weathers in Skyrim LE - my personal favourite to go if you want photorealism in your game. Get only the weather mod itself from the Files tab - but make sure to disable the "SOS Patch" plugin after installation if the mod will install it. Also install this tiny fix for it.
Vivid Weathers The most popular weather mod for Skyrim SE which stands for its name - vivid, vibrant, tasty weathers with a very big variety. The subjective downside of the is that it makes game really more vibrant in many cases, so if you like cinematic/realistic look, that most likely not your best candidate. The objective drawback is that it has somewhat more minor visual glitches than the LE version of the mod, but it's nothing critical and on practice, most likely you won't even notice. Also has enough of ENB presets tweaked for it, but not close as much as Obsidian has, for example.
Dolomite Weathers While Dolomite is technically a predecessor to Obsidian, I personally still prefer some elements from it over Obsidian's composition. It's really diverse, with plenty of beautiful weathers (but not that vibrant as Vivid Weathers), and with absolutely unrivaled clouds look. Also, if you possibly love its rain/snow effects, but wanna use other weather mod, you can use this little addon with other weather mods.
Climates Of Tamriel "Old but good" weather mod that's making Skyrim weathers more interesting than it was in vanilla game, but still sticking much to original atmosphere as much as possible. One can call it "vanilla weathers plus". Alternative sounds patch available.
Aequinoctium - Weathers and Seasons A sharp, fantasy-realism weather mod with a noticeable photorealism touch. You can also make a nice mix - using Obsidian, but with some Aequinoctium weathers merged in it, with the help of this patch. Also has a good support in terms of ENB presets available.
NAT - Natural and Atmospheric Tamriel An amazing candidate if you wanna weathers and general ambience be more cinematic. Also has a good support in terms of ENB presets available. But take into account while most of weather mods are giving 0 performance impact, NAT is much "heavier" compared to other weather mods for some reasons.
Rustic Weathers and Lighting A really well-made mod which has somewhat desaturated, "rustic" look, sticking close to original ambience.
Azurite Weathers
Weather mod aimed on realism. If you want more harsh storms, install this addon .
Picturesque - weathers mod plus ENB As the mod title mentions, page contains both weather mod itself and the author's ENB preset for it. You may or may not use this preset, or use the weather mod only - there are other ENB presets for it available in ENB presets list of the guide. There are also some patches for popular mods here.
Surreal Lighting -- vibrant and cheerful weathers and lighting Deep fantasy weather/lighting mod with gentle purple touch. Take into account though that it's [both] weather and lighting mod at the same time, so it may have minor conflicts with lighting mods here and there, so use with caution/testing.
Mythical Ages - weathers and lighting overhaul Another fantasy and bright weather mod, being somewhere between Obsidian and Vivid Weathers, I'd say.
Northern Saga Weathers and Seasons One more vibrant weather mod, but with some cold touches from time to time.
Scandinavian Seasons Extended One more interesting weather overhaul from the author of mod above.
Autumn Skies Warm, saturated weather mod.
Serious Weathers A simple weather which is aimed on a bit of more diversity and basically amplified vanilla weathers - clear weather is actually clear, foggy weather is more foggy etc.
Wander - A Weather Mod One more simple, script-free, but qualitative weather mod enhancing and adding variation while preserving the colors and spirit of vanilla look.
Accompanying weather mods. You [can] use them [on top] with other weather & lighting mods (some extra notes exist though):
True Storms Special Edition - Thunder Rain and Weather Redone The mod make all types of storms much more realistic - severe, loud, deep, by overhauling both visual and audio apperance of them. For me personally, it's doing this job better than any other weather mod above. But what about compatibility? Worry not! Check out this amazing author's page to get a compatibility for many other popular weather mods. Note: not needed if you're using Supreme Weathers for Obsidian.
Storm Lightning for SSE and VR Vanilla game, even in "remastered" version, didn't have actual lightnings during the storms. That fixes it. By default, its lightnings amount/strength is pretty unrealistic and can be even disturbing for some players - but this can be configured in MCM. Yet, if you like extreme thunderstorms - it may be a good pick for you for actual walkthrough as well. Sound overhaul available.
Wonders of Weather Rainbows. Shooting stars. Rain splashes. Simple as that. Compatible with each and every weather/lighting mod. Note: it's recommended to disable the splashes feature of this mod, and for that, use the mod below.
Splashes of Storms Also install the mesh improvement. It also allows you to tweak the splashes in ENB GUI. If you're modding Skyrim "VR", install this as well.
Rudy fix for Smoke In-game smoke always goes in one direction. Now the behavior of the smoke (chimneys, fires, braziers) is influenced by the wind direction and its strength (it changes with the weather).
Foggy Morthal and Swamp SE
Makes Morthal region always foggy. Load after other weather mods if using any. If using Obsidian Weathers, install this instead.
Clear Skies Fix SE This mod is optional - use it ONLY if you have Clear Skies shout not working properly if you have one of "main" weather mods above.
Lighting mods. Choose only one (but, there's one "but", explained inside the section):
So, the "but" explanation. Generally, it's recommended to go with only one of the mods (or mods combos) listed. If you want to experiment, you can try to mix mods at some extent. For instance, Lux Orbis mod only affects exteriors but not interiors. At the same time, you can get ELFX and install only its main part (which affects only interiors, but not exteriors) - so you'll have interiors lighting changes from ELFX and exteriors from Lux Orbis. You got the idea. This said, while it's technically possible, it not a guarantee of a good result, as the lighting "approach" may be too different in the end.
Enhanced Lights and FX
The well-deserved most endorsed lighting mod of all times. A complete overhaul to vanilla lighting while keeping it simple and not going away from original look. Better lighting. New light sources where needed. More realistic lighting in dungeons and other interiors. Huge coverage. Best support from the side of ENB presets. Everything is here. Personal recommendation - if you're aimed on a heavy mod list, choose only the core mod itself and enhancer option (and ofc SMIM-related option) - don't choose exteriors option. And don't use ELFX weathers module - it's not compatible with other weather mods and almost not supported by ENB presets. Choose "no [vanilla player home name]" or "no player homes" if you are planning to use mods that overhaul vanilla player home/s. Lastly, do NOT overwrite Rugnarok, Rocks/Mountains, Realistic Water Two, Pfuscher's mines and Rudy's nordic mods meshes. It also has plenty of addons to improve it/make more compatible. This patch plus this patch and this one are [absolutely essential]. Also recommended to get this one . This one and this one are very much recommended as well. This mod has some patches for mods you may possibly have. If you're using ELFX hardcore module and ASLAL, this will be useful.
Lastly, there's an impressive and updated ELFX Shadows addon that drastically improves shadows and lighting effects further. Also grab a Hearthfire addon and take a look on various patches , as well as ASLAL patch .
Note: if you'll be using ELFX Shadows, this, this and this patches are not needed - don't use them or remove them if they're already installed.
LUX + LUX Orbis
Newest of similar mods and actively updated, LUX is another complete lighting overhaul aimed on realism. The LUX mod is for interiors, LUX Orbis is for exteriors. Note: both mods require Lux Via resources pack [only the resources pack, not the mod itself - so you can still use any other similar mod for that goal]. Also take a look on some patches for environmental mesh replacers here . Also, take a look on lots of addons and patches for it here and here, and some extra patches for Lux Orbis here .
Note: LUX is absolutely incredible in terms of providing compatibility patches for most different mods - from settlements overhauls and dungeon mods, to quest and follower (some major follower mods are adding certain new places too) mods - thus, install LUX much later in your modding process, not earlier then you'll reach the "Overhauls" section of the guide.
Window Shadows ==FPS==
Basically a port of "SHADOWS" mod from Skyrim LE. Amazing mod that's adding and improving shadows in interiors. The quality of these shadows sometimes gives really a great difference in interiors look - but even alone, it's quite FPS-hungry, and if using together with other lighting mods (it's technically possible), FPS hit will be even higher for most of users - so see yourself. There are some patches for: USEEP , Relighting Skyrim and JK mods .
Ambiance - A Vanilla(plus) Ambient Lighting Overhaul A vanilla+ lighting mod which recalibrates ambient lighting adhering to vanilla colors and creating a balance between stealth gameplay and looks. Can be used alone instead of major lighting mods, but also can be used together with the next mods: ELFX (without Enhancer option), Relighting Skyrim and Windows Shadows.
Shadows Of Sunlight - In Small Exterior World Spaces Adds sunlight and shadows to some small exterior world spaces that lacked sunlight: Shalidor's Maze, Giant's Grove, and Castle Volkihar Courtyard. Can be used on top of other major lighting mods.
This one is opitonal, read below.
Enhanced Volumetric Lighting and Shadows (EVLaS) SKSE plugin that improves volumetric lighting and shadows by synchronizing them with Skyrim's sun and moon(s). At the same time, this doesn't come without cons and you may notice weird shadows behaviour in some cases. Try it yourself and see if you want it or not.
Take into account that clouds improvements are often included in weather mods, so if you're planning to use weather mods, read the respective mod pages carefully - separate cloud mods may be not compatible with them.
ETHEREAL CLOUDS Qualitative clouds retextures which sticks to original look. Northern Realistic Clouds Beautiful cloud mod inspired by scandinavian weathers and clouds. CLOUDS Realistic Clouds for NAT, Obsidian and Azurite Weathers. Real Clouds Finally for Special Edition. Obsidian Mountain Fogs
Beautiful, immersive, volumetric mountains fog mod. Take into account that it's [included] on Obsidian weather mod itself and not needed if using the Mists of Tamriel mod below. If you have issues with DynDOLOD generation with this mod installed, or plan to use option for reduced size, get this tweaked version instead.
Mists of Tamriel
The next generation volumetric fog mod that adds volumetric mists, distant animated mists and morning fogs, controlled via MCM and editable via ENB, with patches for many popular weather mods. Highly recommended.
Clouds all over
Clouds over many settlements and areas. Compatible with everything.
The Fog Machine
Analogue to Fogrim mod in Skyrim LE, it makes weathers almost cosntantly foggy and adds more distant fogs.
Dimmer Fog and More
Mod reduces fog effect transparency and brightness when exploring dungeons with torches and other light sources.
Darker Interior Ambient Fog
Tweaks interior fog. Use only if you aren't running any lighting mods (like ELFX or ELE).
No Fog on World Map
Simple as that.
Towns, cities, villages, forts & camps. Everything to make them look better, expand, and sometimes even rebuild completely. Take into account that in most of cases, you shouldn't use more than one mod that affects the same settlement, as this will lead to major clipping issues or a completely borked look - so if you're relatively new to modding, always just choose one mod affecting certain area. But ofc there are some exclusions and some mod covering same settlements can be used together - on-fly or with certain tweaks - I'll notify about that. Mods that add NEW settlements/buldings will be added in the next update together with a compelte miniguide into "ultimate settlements overhaul". Also take into account that some of these mods can heavily impact your FPS if you're not on high-end rig.
First of all, let's take a look at some "big" settlement overhauls - the mods that cover many settlelements at once with certain own style:
JK's Skyrim ==FPS== The most popular towns'n'cities overhaul, and it's pretty deserved - nothing from similar mods can compete with JK's Skyrim in terms of amount of various details and clutter added to cities and towns. Coverage: Whiterun, Windhelm, Solitude, Markarth, Riften, Riverwood, Dragon Bridge, Ivarstead, Rorikstead, Falkreath, Morthal, Dawnstar, Winterhold, Skaal Village and Skyhaven Temple. Don't use it with Dawn of Skyrim, ETAC all-in-on and The Great Cities collection listed below. If you want to mix, you can choose modular version of ETAC and/or separate "great cities" mods. You can also use separate JK's mods for certain city/town, but sadly there are only few available, unlike for Skyrim LE. Also get the the USSEP patch
. Mod's Files section also provides plenty of patches for other popular mods, and there's a patch for Great City of Dawnstar mod and high poly patch for NPCs. Optionally, also install this .
Dawn of Skyrim (Director's Cut)
My personal city overhaul favourite at the moment. Great visual improvement while having light fps impact [plus] new interiors integrated into radiant quests system. Coverage: Whiterun, Windhelm, Solitude, Markarth, Riften - you can use it with any other settlement mod that doesn't affect cities.
Expanded Towns and Cities
An atmospheric overhaul with own unique touch, references and much more things here and there. The flaw of this mod is it has plenty of bugs here and there - they are not critical and don't bloat your save or something, but if you like seamless glitch-free experience, you may want to wait until it's more clean. Currently, despite the name, it covers only plenty of towns and doesn't touch cities - so you can use it with city-only mods like Dawn of Skyrim. For towns and villages - read mod page compatibility notes.
RubberSpaghetti profile
For dozens of overhauls for large amount of settlements - cities, towns and villages (both single settlement mods and AIO packs). The approach of this author is nearly minimalistic, performance-friendly, but beautiful and at the same time - a good alternative to the heavy settlement overhauls above.
The Great Cities - Minor Cities and Towns
The mod name is somewhat confusing - it doesn't cover cities (at least, for now) - only towns, namely the Dawnstar, Dragon Bridge, Falkreath, Morthal, Rorikstead and Winterhold. This mod is my personaly favourite for towns as it has absolutely fresh, original approach, while staying lore-friendly. I'm personally using it with Dawn of Skyrim for cities coverage. You can also try separate mods from the same author if you wanna mix things up. Note: this collection currently has older version of the standalone Winterhold mod from the same author included, so if you want the newer version of their Winterhold, install both mods and get the patch from here .If you wanna use it with JK's Skyrim, there's a nice mashup plugin here (you still need both mods themselves), or this patch (you need the "main file 3" one). The drawback of using them together is that compatibility patches for other popular mods made either for JK's Skyrim or Great Cities may not work properly. There's also a few patches for various other mods available here. Settlements Expanded My personal favourite villages mod which overhauls vanilla villages and adds a few new one. Coverage: Sarethi Farm, Heartwood Mill, Kolskeggr Mine, Loreius Farm, Soljunds Sinkhole, Whistling Mine + Coldstone Mine (new village). This mod IS compatible with Arthmoor's village mods (and it's recommended to use them together). Mod Files section also provides plenty of patches for other popular mods. Arthmoor's Village Mods Arthmoor provides light-weight yet neat overhauls for many vanilla villages. Sadly, all-in-one overhaul (as for Skyrim LE) is not available, so you'll have to install the one by one and then possibly merge if you'll need plugin space. Compatible with Settlements Expanded. About other mods covering same villages - read the mod pages. Coverage: Ivarstead, Kynesgrove, Shor's Stone, Darkwater Crossing, Whistling Mine, Karthwasten, Soljund's Sinkhole, Helarchen Creek. Skyrim Reborn - Whiterun Hold A massive overhaul for almost 20 "tiny" places in Whiterun hold - standing stones, bandit camps, towers etc. Compatible or close to 99% compatible with any settlement overhaul and compatible with mods of landscape overhaul - only may cause some minor clipping here and there. The only flaw of this mod is that changes for most of places of similar type are looking almost the same.
ATTENTION: read the list of included mods carefully - don't use them or mods that are possibly covering same places. Goodfellow's Whiterun Hold One more simple, but highly immersive whiterun hold overhaul.
Now, I want to point your attention on some not "whole-covering" (mostly single-settlement), but highly prominent mods that cover this or that settlement. Consider this my personal "essential mods besides the big overhauls" section:
Immersive College of Winterhold This mod a must-have. Yes, even if you're playing not as pure mage. You still will go through College questline sooner or later, and you still will be visiting it from time to time. This mod is just enormous in its College overhaul aspect. Aesthetical visual overhaul of structures and building, new buildings, new cells, new dungeon, greatly improved College NPCs AI, new NPCs, immersive magic learning experience, new dungeon, quest and dozens of other tiny details - feel this faction as never before. Also take a look at map texture improvement, chains improvement, "3D" Trees patch and dozens other patches with a comfy FOMOD installer. Lastly, LUX patch here
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Glorious Fort Dawnguard
Ever wonder why Fort Dawnguard is so damned depressing? You arrive and the place is empty and uninspiring. Dark, old, worn down, tattered banners, and only a wet-behind-the-ears farmboy with "pa's axe" to greet you when you arrive - well, this mod changes that. Choose between this mod or the one below.
Immersive Fort Dawnguard
Another Dawnguard HQ overhaul from author of well-known Immersive College of Winterhold mod - and also for both exteriors and interiors. Bigger and better fort iteself with new fortifications and buildings. Chapel, library, bathhouse and prison inside. As you progress through the quest-line, Fort Dawnguard will gradually be cleaned up and restored until its back to its original glory. Choose this mod or the one above. Also take into account that it's pretty freshly released, so you may have to wait for various compatibility patches to appear (though with the nature of the mod, there won't be many hard compatibility issues in first turn). Choose between this mod or the one above (I'm currently using this one). If you're using "Landscape Fixes for Grass Mods", get this patch. You can see a showcase of it in my video here.Better Tel Mithryn An expansion of the settlement of Tel Mithryn. Includes docks, a main gate, new merchants, guards, and more. Quaint Raven Rock ESP-only overhaul. Extremely lore-friendly yet detailed at the same time, with interesting new features and details. A few extra patches are available, as well as navmesh fix patch (has two files - one for the mod itself, another corrects the mod's patch for Clockwork). The Great City of Solitude Another great Solitude exterior/docks overhaul - compatible with mods like JK/Dawn that change Solitude inside. A patch for CFTO is available.
Note: Don't use ELFX Exteriors option with it to avoid clipping. Well, don't use ELFX Exterior option in general if you're aimed on heavy settlements overhaul (once again). Old Hroldan Ruins Fixes a discrepancy in which there should be even the ruins of an ancient settlement of what used to be Hroldan as described in lore. Works fine together with Great Village of Old Hroldan. Stendarr's Beacon Enhanced and Ruhmastered Absolutely essential little gem. Expands & improves Stendarr's Beacon, making it more functional for those playing as, with, or against the Vigilants of Stendarr. Adds new, lore-appropriate interior zones, outbuildings, and decor to complement the Vigil's aesthetic. Compatible with VIGILANT quest mod. Also install a little fix. Stonehills Reborn Anga's Mill Reborn Greater Skaal Village Compatible with JK's Skaal Village changes. Immersive Farms Tiny, totally optional but a cool mod that adds more crops to many villages/towns farms. Greatly compatible with mods of settlement overhauls.
Interior overhauls. Take into account that they may (and will in almost all cases) conflict if you'll be trying to use them together to get the biggest possible coverage, but it's easily fixed - just open mods affecting same cells in xEdit and delete the named cell from one of the mods and save. If you want to see more detailed tutorial with examples - watch the video below :)
So, interior mods:
Something to take into account: at this point, JK covers around 40 different interiors, and most likely, this trend will continue. His interior overhauls, asides from being great, also (usually) have good compatibility support for other popular mods, either from author himself, or from those mods (like LUX lighting overhaul, for instance). Generally, I'd say to first go through JK's list of interior overhauls and pick what you like - and then, see how much you want to change still, and see whether you need much mods from the rest of this subsection.
Distinct Interiors Small, simple changes to make interiors more distinct and recognizable. Don't forget to get the fix addon and fps fix patch and improved barrerls look patch. A patch for Snazzy Furniture and Clutter Overhaul is available. Palaces and Castles Enhanced Bautiful overhaul for the most memorable Skyrim interiors, namely the Dragonsreach, Blue Palace, Castle Dour, Mistveil Keep, Understone Keep, Palace of the Kings and Fort Dawnguard. An essential mod, imo. Also make sure to check the Files tab for patches. Enhanced Interiors The great overhaul for dozens of interiors with amazing fantasy touch. Mod is hosted on LE page - get the "Enhanced Interiors SSE Beta" file. SE version is not officially supported tho - instead, you may want to try the lite version from here - it's stripped down, but more compatible and updated. jkrojmal profile For over 40 (and going) standalone overhauls for various interiors cells - from Dragonsreach and Mistveil Keep, to Pawned Prawn and Warmaidens. Over 450 patches are available here and over 150 patches here - for all kind of interior mod combinations.Note: if you're using MLU Simplified, check the Septimus Outpost and Skyhaven Temple MLU patches for errors and delete 2 related records. EEKs Whiterun Interiors My personal favourite for the named interiors. gutmaw profile For many beautiful interior overhauls of shops and NPC houses. Opulent Thieves Guild Beautiful Ragged Flagon overhaul the immersively improves the look of it while you're progressing in TG questline. Compatible with At Your Own Pace TG module. Also grab the fix, and take a look at patches
collection.Note: If you wanna use it with Distinct Interiors, use its modular version. GG's Thieves Guild Headquarters Complete rework of Riften's Thieves Guild Cistern, new architecture, new rooms, new NPCs, dynamic clutters and lots of secrets. This mod doesn't modify Ragged Flagon, so it is compatible with all mods which edit thieves guild tavern. Plenty of patches (including a patch for Opulent Thieves guild) available here
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Temple of the Divines Frescoes
Adds painted frescoes to the Temple of the Divines in Solitude and other temples and halls of the dead, now with a FOMOD installer. For AIO 4k version with upscaled textures, take a look here .
Drengin's Blue Palace Terrace
Overhaul of the Blue Palace in Solitude. Unique appearance and enhanced interior. A great alternative to PCE's Blue Palace. A few patches are available, as well as SFCO patch . Also take a look at the author's profile for more reworks of separate noticeable buildings.
Blue Palace Overhaul 5.0
And one more Blue Palace overhaul, somewhat simplier than previous ones, but with own spirit. Like it pretty much myself.
PD Inn's Bath
Overhauls various inns interiors and adds baths to them.
Enhanced Skaal Greathall
A complete overhaul of Skaal Greathall.
Castle Volkihar Rebuilt
A simple mod to allow the player to clean up the debris and rebuild Castle Volkihar to its former glory. The North Tower is also converted into a player home with safe storage. Use this one or the mod below. A small addon for it available here, as well as some patches .
The Royal Castle
Castle Volkihar with style, dungeon, training-room and much more. Use this mod or the one above.
Auriel's Chapel Restored
Restores the Chapel of Auriel and the Inner Sanctum in the Forgotten Vale
Blue Palace Frescos 2.0
Wall paintings to match Elisifs beauty!
Better Innteriors
A project aimed at improving the interiors of Skyrim into something more unique.
Anna's Vanilla Inns
Modest and immersive makeovers of some vanilla Inns: Frostfruit (Rorikstead), Four Shields (Dragonbridge), Sleeping Giant (Riverwood), and Moorside (Morthal).
RYFTEN - Consistency of windows in Riften
Add 70+ windows where there should be inside. Compatible with lighting mods.
A True Arcadia's Cauldron
An enchanting overhaul of Arcadia's Cauldron.
The Dibellan Baths
Adds a new location to Markarth: the Dibellan Baths, run and used by the Priesthood of Dibella.
SKYHAMMER
Nine new glorious gamerooms found in various cities and inns across Skyrim.
Gooood. Now a plenty of various smaller mods that changes single city/town/adds different things here and there. Take into account that some of them maybe be 100% compatible with big mods above, some may be not. Just read the mod pages attentively and you'll be fine.
Blubbos Whiterun 2022 Some patches here. Blubbos Markarth 2022 Blubbos Riften Trees 2022 Mods from the talented Blubbo to add trees into several major cities. Fortified Whiterun Mod seeks to bring realistic and logical defenses to Whiterun. Ruined Gardens of Whiterun This mod adds medium sized ruined gardens with a small, yet swimmable water basin to Whiterun. Ryn's Western Watchtower The only mod for this tower you need. Dark's Whiterun market A market in Whiterun outskirts. Warmaiden Reforged A neat little mod, but compatible only with vanilla game or JK's Skyrim. Whiterun Riverside Expansion A beautiful mods which adds several new NPCs, shops and quests along the White River, to expand Whiterun exterior area. Perfecter Whiterun More trees and plants for Whiterun - compatible (or mostly compatible with minor clipping possible which you can solve with "disable" command in console) with other Whiterun overhauls. Whiterun Has Walls Ever tired of seeing Whiterun, which is a center of trade, have run-down walls? Now it's fixed. Highly compatible in its nature and has lots of patches provided. Cozy Dragonsreach Balcony A little nice improvement.
Winterhold Restored Winterhold Restored removes the ruined buildings in Winterhold and adds new buildings, player homes, a new housecarl, merchants, followers, marriable NPCs, new horses, fishing docks, a greenhouse, a fishery and more. Winterhold - Expanded Ruins Does how it's called. Mostly compatible with most of the mods. Mandragora's Winterhold Overhaul Subtle and performance friendly overhaul of Winterhold. Anna's Winterhold Restored Beautiful yet simple, pretty underrated Winderhold overhaul. ClefJ's Winterhold Alternative approach to Winterhold renovation with some custom assets. Winterhold Docks Adds a much needed docks area to Winterhold. Compatible with most of Winterhold-affecting mods.
Dawnstar A lite Dawnstar overhaul. Dawnstar Defended Adds a network of immersive, lore-friendly perimeter defenses to the town of Dawnstar.
Morthal Overhaul II A well-made Morthal overhaul alternative. RedBag's Morthal A pretty uhique Morthal overhaul. Marsh End Traders in Morthal Adds a merchant to Morthal who sells general goods plus a few other interesting items. There is also an optional file that sets up a remote trading camp in the swamp above Morthal for anyone who is using a town mod that conflicts with the merchant house placement.
Gray Quarter Overhaul Overhaul of the Gray Quarter district of Windhelm with new buildings, new npcs, and a new player home. Dawn of Skyrim patch here
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Windhelm Expansion - Grey Quarter
Absolutely gorgeous and spacious expansion to Windhelm, adding a whole new city district with dosens of new interiors, NPCs and even short quests. Can be used together with the mod above. You can see a showcase of it in my video here.
Windhelm Docks Pathways
Compatible with most of cities mods that change Windhelm.
Windhelm Bridge Revived
Beautiful and practical overhaul of Windhelm's bridge. Mod showcase here. Use this mod or the combo below.
The Citadel of Snow - The Windhelm Bridge Reforged ==NEW==
The Citadel of Snow - Lively Windhelm Bridge ==NEW==
Two mods meant to be used as combo, for both vanilla+ bridge look overhaul together with related NPCs AI improvements & additions.
Icy Windhelm
Not technically a cit overaul as it's just the mesh replacer, but practically, goes well together with any of those as it's noticeably improving the look of the city terrain and architecture. Patch for JK Skyrim available in the Files tab.
SKY CITY - Markarth Rising ==FPS== This beautiful mod is COMPATIBLE with most of Markarth overhauls. Some minor clipping may occur though, which is not critical and you can remove clipping objects by typing "disable" in console when clicking on them. Second Era Markarth This mod is not directly changing the existing city districts yet adds some objects and structures that were noticeably missing in the 4th era when compared to ESO's Markarth. Can be used on top of most of other mods which overhaul Markarth. Ultimate Markarth Completely overhauls Markarth by combining 4 different overhauls into one enormous city. Markarth - City of Stone A simple but well-made Markarth facelift. Markarth Overhaul Aesthetical Markarth overhaul, mostly aimed on some point dwemer elements and city trees. JK's Skyrim compatibility patch available. Wood Choppin Markarth For whatever reason, there is not a single wood chopping block in entire Markarth. This mod fixes that. Compatible with most of Markarth overhauls. City Entrances Overhaul - Markarth A complete overhaul of the Markarth entrance area. Also make sure to install the fix.
Epic Cities - Solitude That's probably the most unique and most underrated Solitude overhaul, and one on most originally-made city overhaul at all. Besides being highly detailed and not just adding symbolical clutter or buildings, new buildings are functional, NPC wear near armors etc. But most important is that mod expands city not just broadwise/horizontally, but vertically as well, giving Solitude a gorgeous, truly epic look it deserves. You can see a showcase of it in my video here. RedBag's Solitude Solitude (and its docks) overhaul from talented Redbag. Patch to use it together with Dawn of Skyrim's Solitude available here (also, then overwrite it with this on top). Solitude Skyway An elevated set of stairs and walkways that has been added to the underside of the large rock arch that the city of Solitude rests upon. Patch for the Great City of Solitude here , and few other patches are available at the mod Files tab. Solitude Exterior Addon If you don't like the Great City of Solitude for some reasons, you can try this. Realistic Solitude Arch For MUH REALISM. Note: not needed if you're using the Great City of Solitude mod. Solitude Docks Updated You really thought that was the last one? Patch for Redbag's Solitude here .
Riften Docks Pathways Adds additional pathways and bridges connecting the Riften docks with both sides of the mainland. Compatible with mods of city mods that affect Riften. Riften Docks Overhaul Docks overhaul for Riften created by combining and tweaking several high-quality mods. Riften Fish Market A port of Riften Fish Market mod from Skyrim LE. RYFTEN - Make Your Riften - Inner Several additions for Riften. Has a FOMOD installer with options to choose or discard, so can be made compatible with most of Riften overhauls. RYFTEN DOWN - A little addition to the Riften canal A humble immersive addition to the Riften canal. Dawn of Skyrim patch available.
Simple Raven Rock Expansion A gret Raven Rock mod alternative. You can also use this addon for it. Raven Rock Reborn One more alternative for this settlement.
This is Riverwood Makes Riverwood to a more lively town. Some subtle change that keep the original feeling of this village intact. Kato's Riverwood One more Riverwood alternative. JK's patch here. Ideal Riverwood A "lite" version of T'Skyrim Riverwood (meant to be used with "lite" JK plugin as well). Unique Culture Riverwood Artistic overhaul for Riverwood features both changed exteriors and interiors as well as unique farmohouses look (for Riverwood only). Riverwood Bridge Reborn Replaces the Riverwood stonebridge with a custom woodenbridge.
Kato's Falkreath An alternative Falkreath exterior overhaul. Falkreath Very lightweight overhaul to Falkreath.
WiZkiD Pinewatch A omplete aesthetic revamp of Pinewatch. It includes a new model for the buildings and high quality textures.
Rodryk's Dragon Bridge A new set of custom, unique buildings for Dragon Bridge. Some patches for other popular mods available here. Dragon Bridge South Side Simple as that - expands Dragon Bridge south part. Use this mod or the mod below. Expanded Dragon Bridge Vanilla style expansion of the village of Dragon Bridge that adds buildings and NPCs to the South side of the bridge, including a Blacksmith and a Chapel of Akatosh. Use this mod or the mod above.
ClefJ's Half Moon Mill A vibrant Half Moon Mill facelift.
Karthwasten - Let The Silver Flow A town mod which makes Karthwasten look like it actually exports silver, is wealthy, and alive within the world.
Better Docks This mod brings immersive details and life to the docks of Skyrim and Raven Rock in Solstheim. Compatibility issues, such as clipping, light or heavy, may occure - if used with many other settlement mods. Expanded Tel Mithryn An alternative if you don't like Better Tel Mithryn. Rorikstead Revised A lightweight expansion of Rorikstead. High Hrothgar - Enhanced A spacious High Hrothgar overhaul by talented kojak747. GK Tiny Renovated Shacks Simple imporovements to many shacks across Skyrim. ClefJ's Fort Dawnguard A complete architectural overhaul for Fort Dawnguard in attempt to make a proper castle from it. Archinatic profile Many amazing standalone overhauls (using them myself) for towns/villages, "The Great city/town of" series. Also take a look on patches and fixes here, here, here, here, here and here. Axis1211 profile For several simple yet interesting village overhauls. Ryn2g profile For 40+ immersive overhauls of various "forgotten" or small places - towers, camps, farms, dragon mounds and so on. Some patches available here and here. Settlements Expanded patch can be found here (in the FOMOD installer). Schlitzohr profile For several mods adding nice lil villages at/near previously empty small settlements, or places where a new small settlement/post would make sense. RS Children patches here
.
GGUNIT profile
This author you may know as a creator or "Lux" lighting mods, but lately, he also creates other small nice mods, improving settlements outskirts look.
Penitus Oculatus II
Adds a military outpost in the mountains north of Markarth.
Skaal Village Overhaul
Completely overhauls the architecture in the Skaal Village on Solstheim and adds a new player home for you to acquire. Some patches here.
Illustrated Town Panels
Now ported to SE.
Nordic Carving - Wallbaskets
Nordic Carving - Great Portal of Dragonsreach
Two mods from the same author changing/adding some decoration elements.
Fort/prison overhauls:
Imperial Stone - The Forts of Skyrim Redone Absolutely great mod that overhauls many prominent Skyrim forts, making them look as they initially should: Fort Greymoor, Fort Sungard, Fort Greenwall, Fort Snowhawk, Fort Hraggstad, Fort Amol, Fort Kastav, Fort Neugrad, Fort Dunstad, Northwatch Keep.Tactical Valtheim An epic redesign of Valtheim Towers into Valtheim Keep, an attempt to turn it into an actual fortress while maintaining something like the original atmosphere and style. DSR patch is available. Serenity - A Silent Moons Camp Overhaul A mod to make Silent Moons Camp into a larger bandit camp, as well as making the lunar enchantment and forge better, and make Silent Moons Camp claimable. Halted Stream Mine Halted Stream Camp is sitting on top of a decent iron mine. This mod will let you claim the mine for a faction of your choice, preventing bandits from spawning there again. Blood and Silver - Cidhna Mine Expanded Cidhna Mine, Skyrim's most notorious prison and the source of Markarth's vast wealth, finally lives up to its reputation with this MASSIVE expansion. New places, new people, new challenges. Note: if you're using LUX and have glitches inside the mine even with the patch installed, make sure you have have from LUX version above 5.2, this will fix the issue. JJerem profile For orc stronghold overhauls. Skamp's Claw Keep A complete rework of the Abandoned Prison. Compatible with ASLAL. Snowhawk Expanded - City Ruins Expansion of the area east of Fort Snowhawk to include the ruins of the former city of Snowhawk which was present in TES I: Arena and mentioned in TES IV: Oblivion. Not compatible with the Imperial Stone mod above. Bannermist Overhaul of Bannermist Tower with increased Bandit presence.
All the mods in this section are optional. They transform the landscapes of Skyrim in this or that way - adds or remove trees, making wilderness more dense or barren, change the look of terrain, roads, bridges, or just completely transforming Skyrim into something new - with spring, summer or purely winter region. Choose and use what you personally like :)
Enhanced Landscapes - Oaks Standalone SSE - Marsh Pines - Dilon Vul A stripped down module from Enhanced Landscape only for Marsh region. Also fully supports 3D LODs.
The Great Forest of Whiterun Hold ==FPS== Want the tundra region more forested? Think no more! This mod creates a giant forest Falkreath-style in the desolated tundra of Whiterun hold. Also take a look on patches page - but take into account that mod doesn't have FOMOD installer - download the archive manually, delete all patches you don't need, keep those you do, archive it back, add to your mod manager and install.
Whiterun Forest Borealis - Fixes ==FPS== A mod with similar goal and coverage, but somewhat different approach. Don't use together with previous mod, choose only one.
Trees Addon A really well-made tree mod that follows "quality over quantity" approach and carefully places trees here and there to make scenery look better. It also adds beautiful "king trees" from Enderal to Skyrim. Optional look change addon available here.
Bent Pines II Another mod that adds huge trees here and there, but with different look. Technically, you can use it together with Trees Addon, but on practice, I'd recommend to choose one.
Wigfrid's Tundra Oaks Inspired by the mod above, from the author of Ulvenwald tree overhaul. Note: if you'll be using DynDOLOD version 3, disable this mod's plugin before generating LODs.Dark Forests of Skyrim My personal favorite between all landscape/tree overhauls. It places several thousands of trees/plants over the Skyrim, yet doing this very carefully & logically. It features both dead and new alive trees types, making some places more grim and other - more alive, fitting the overall ambience of the regions. It's also more performance-friendly and better compatibility-wise (but still it's recommended to avoid using other massive tree addons together with it, as this will result in frequent clipping), than, for example, Enhanced Landscapes and has full 3D LODs support. EVT as main tree mod and balanced, cinematic ENB preset like Rudy ENB are recommended to be used with it.
Dark Forests of Skyrim SE - Solstheim Apocalypse An amazing Solstheim tree addon from the same author.
Solstheim Trading Posts A simple yet immersive addition.
Project Rainforest - A Tropical Climate and Environment Overhaul Skyrim SE lacks summer/spring landscape overhauls, but gladly this amazing (and pretty underrated) mod is here. It's a tropical rainforest overhaul for the Skyrim, covering most worldspaces of the base game and DLCs minus the visual overkill. Trees, plants, grasses, weather ambience, sounds - everything to transform Skyrim into tropical-looking beauty. It's not recommended to use is with other massive flora overhauls, building visual setup around this mod in first turn.
The Ruins Beautiful mod that adds various ruined structures and statues across Skyrim. The flaw of this one is sometimes it may feel "too much" in certain places, and mod also has some events and references that are not lore-friendly and made for fun (for example, Shrek references). Still, this is all up to player's taste :)
Ancient Land Don't want lore-unfriendly moments and occasional too much clutter that previous mod has, but love its approach still? Think no more and try this one. Plenty of patches for popular mods available here .
Northern Scenery Series ==NEW== A series of small-to-moderate sized mods aiming to improve scenery of various Skyrim regions. Compatible with most of other landscape overhauls, plus author is willing to provide patches if incompatibility with a certain mod will be reported on the mod page.
Road overhauls.
Skyrim Better Roads One of the most simple yet one of the most favorite mods of such type for me personally. It makes huge amount of Skyrim roads to look more authentic and logical. It's also perfectly compatible with almost all the mods in this section. My personal advice is to install version without bridges coverage to be able to use bridges-dedicated mods below. Installing [all] main files is also recommended. Choose this mod or the one below.
Lux Via A rework of all main roads while focusing on lighting, adding consistent light sources between towns and villages, improving or reworking from scratch many bridges, crossroads and adding a lot of points of interest to make roads a bit more interesting. Choose this mod or the one above. You can see a video showcase of it here.
Prettier Roads by LGG Upgrade your Skyrim roads with some much needed scenery and some lore-friendly additions.
Interesting Roads Immersive and non-intrusive addon for Skyrim roads from the "Ancient Land" mod author (and compatible with it). Can be used with one of the mods above (minus Lux Via). You can see a video showcase of it here.
Bridge overhauls.
Skyrim Bridges My favourite bridge mod. Gives an overhaul to close to every bridge in Skyrim, making them look really unique and immersive. Do NOT use together with the mod below, choose one or another. Also (optionally) install this improvement patch (it's somewhat subjective, imo, hence "optionally").
Improved Bridges of Skyrim Anothe great bridge rework mod.
Covered Bridges of Skyrim An alternative if you don't like previous mod. More "simple" bridge overhaul. Do NOT use together with the mods above - choose oner.
Northern Marsh Bridges Adds several wooden bridges across the northern marshlands of Hjaalmarch (the region where some bridges would actually not hurt, imo). You CAN use this mod together with one of previous mods as it only adds new bridges.
Standing stones visual overhauls. Choose one.
Standing Stones Stand Out Adds some clutter to some of the standing stone locations around Skyrim. My personal favourite here. Link leads to LE version of the mod, but you can use it just fine in SE.
Ryn's Standing Stones Another great visual standing stones overhaul.
Nice. Let's continue.
Winter Overhaul 2019
An all-in-one overhaul that turns Skyrim into a real winter region - whole of it, from the author of Dark Forests of Skyrim. New snow-covered trees, dead trees, more snowy weathers, snow-covered cities and so on. If you always thought that Skyrim should be more cold and snowy - that's a perfect mod for you. Compatible with Obsidian and Vivid Weathers. Compatible with survival/immersion mods like Frostbite/R.A.S.S.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT use it with other massive landscape overhauls, as this will definitely lead to massive clipping and other conflicts, and just weird look.
Nordic Ruins of Skyrim Absolutely brilliant that overhauls some of the most memorable Nordic ruins of Skyrim, making the look much more badass, but immersive, feeling like the original part of the game at the same time. A must-have mod in my humble opinion. Patch for Ryn's Saarthal here.
Mostly Treeless Tundra Transform Skyrim's tundra into a more realistic one by removing most trees. Simple but highly effective (and with actually beauitul effect) mod.
Stave Church of Skyrim Adds a stave church to 7 optional locations around Skyrim. Purely cosmetical mod.
Camps Re-Covered Visual facelift to many bandit camps and areas around.
Half Moon Creek Renovation of the landscape in the area between the Half-Moon Mill, Moss Mother Cavern аnd Evergreen Grove.
Shrine to Kyne Adds a traditional shrine to Kyne, on a mountain peak high above Windhelm
Unmarked Locations Pack
This mod adds more than 50 new (usually) tiny, but immersive locations for you to visit. Nice and seamless.
Unmarked Locations Pack - Forgotten Vale
Unmarked Locations Pack - Solstheim ==NEW==
Unmarked Locations Pack - Soul Cairn ==NEW==
As well for the Solstheim, Forgotten Vale and even such locations as Soul Cairn and Sovngarde.
Ships On The Horizon
Adds ships that can be seen in the Sea of Ghosts near Solitude, Raven Rock and Tel Mithryn.
Poisonblooms & Stonehenges
One or more of these words sounds good for you to be placed in Skyrim wilderness? Then check out this author profile.
Flower Fields Pretty much self-explanatory name. Adds vibrant, beautiful flower fields here and there. May be not much immersive in some cases, but a great option for anyone who wanna give Skyrim a bit more fresh, spring touch.
Unique Flowers and Plants Hand-placed new plants and flowers across Skyrim. Fits the spring/summer setups the best.
Fairy Circles of Skyrim
Adds 9 unmarked locations. Ancient tales tell of magic rings hidden in the mists. Be wary, for they are not made by mortal hands. Look to the mushrooms and if you find them ringed, for you there may be riches.. or something sinister.
Master The Summit Like climbing the highest mountains? Want to maybe abuse Skyrim's glitchy physics less often for that? Try this mod that adds a lot of wooden bridges, stairs and other useful things to explore the mountains and cliffs.
Better Solstheim Locations Adds several simple neutral locations to Solstheim and adds some map markers to existing ones.
Nordic Runestones Adds ancient nordic runestones to Skyrim's landscape.
Oblivion Gates Remade Adds several Oblivion gates to the game. Gates are not functioning ofc, and serving more like and Oblivion nostalgia element. Use this mod or the one below.
Custom Ruins in Soul Cairn Adds custom ruins to Soul Cairn. Meshes from The Witcher 3 converted to use Soul Cairn textures.
s6o6t LORE - Oblivion gates Use this mod or the one above.
s6o6t LORE - Dark Anchors Ruins and Dolmens This mod adds 6 Dolmens to both Eastmarch and Rift, placedin the exact locations they were in ESO.
s6o6t LORE - Mundus Stones This mod is an ESO-inspired replacer of Skyrim Doomstones and their locations/look.
Rorikstead Basalt Cliffs Adds basalt cliffs around Rorikstead, giving the town a unique atmosphere. Compatible with every Rorikstead overhaul. A couple of patches exist.
Windhelm Lighthouse Adds a lighthouse north of Windhelm. Improved version of the original mod.
Anises Cabin Exterior and Interior Overhaul Amazing overhaul of the god-forgotten Anise Cabin (and better than couple other mods for it). Improves both outsides and insides.
Elizabeths Tower - Azura Shrine Increases the size of the Azura Shrine so that its visible from all around Skyrim.
All mods here are NOT obligatory for installation - but it's recommended to go through them still, as it will greatly improve hundreds of more objects not touched before, or improve better then previous "big" mods with often absolutely exceptional quality. The section below is the biggest one in meaning of mods quantity - so don't be afraid when you'll open it. This is a process of plesantly smashing each ugly texture left, as much as possible. Creatures, dragons, armors and weapons, food, ingots, plants and hundreds of other objects till the tiniest details, like ruined books or gold pouches. Many mods will ask you to overwrite - as your game has huge amount of objects retextured already. Just approve overwriting and keep going. It often also may come up to personal taste - so look on each mod page, choose what you like and what not. Enjoy.
Note: if you're using "Water for ENB" as your water mod, make sure you've installed it after "Settlement Mods" and "Landscape Overhauls" sections as instructed previously. If you installed it before, reinstall it now, as its installer contains patches for some of the mods from those sections.
First, a large chunk of standalone retexture mods for a single/few objects which don't quite fit into some spefific category, or affect lots of objects. There are plenty of mods here, so they were grouped into a expandable subsection - click "show" to unwrap it:
A Quality World Map Beautiful look for the world map it deserves. I'm using the "Vivid with Stone Roads" version. Smoking Torches and Candles Simple as that. Tiny, but immersive and a must-have addition.
Note: This mod will overwrite some other mod meshes. For example, both big "Rudy HQ" mods. You can do this, just install the respective patches for this mod from Rudy HQ mod Files sections. High Poly Project Makes dozens of models great again. Comes with HD textures as well. Also grab this large fixes collection , this one , this tiny fix and texture optimisation patch, as well as this addon (it's recommended to compress textures to 2k first through CAO, though).
Note: when installing this mod, if you have Pfuscher's texture pack/s, do not overwrite those. Same goes for the fixes. Inferno - Fire Effects Redux The ultimate fire effects improvement with patches for some popular mods. Note: it's recommended to install it after "The Rest" section of graphics guide if you're planning to follow through whole graphics part of the guide. Arctic - Frost Effects Redux Improved and realistic textures applied to frost spells and effects along with new 3D meshes. RUGNAROK Best rug improvement mod. PELTAPALOOZA Also install this for parallax effect. Overwrite the original mod files. JS Rumpled Rugs Now how about those improved rug models would also have even bettter textures, but also 50+ different variations? Get this one. Note: there's also an optional interactive addon, where some rugs can be "messy" and cause player and NPCs to trip oer when running on those. Personally, I'd advise to skip this addon, but ofc, it's up to you. FleshFX Absolutely freaking amazing. 8 years after, we finally have flesh visuals that don't make us cringe. Improved Sparks Simple as that. Holy Wards - a retexture MUCH better ward look. DOOR By Ramccoid OIL by Ramccoid SOUL by Ramccoid 2k versions recomennded for all 3 mods. Near Vanilla Project - Portal to Sovngarde Redone 4k version recommended. Strange Runes - Spellcasting Enhanced Cast spells in style with magic runes! Glowing glyphs will appear when casting spells or scrolls. Apocalypse, Lost Grimoire and Forgotten Magic Redone compatible. For Skyrim VR, use this version instead, and there's also compatibility addon here. RayMaster901 profile Beautiful texture for rags and various elegant floor textures. RUSTIC RELIEFS Stunning Statues of Skyrim All Skyrim statues with a high-poly models and much better textures. All-in-one. Use this mod or the one below. Remiros' Statues HD Install on top of Stunning Statues of Skyrim and overwrite. Iconic Statues An alternative mod to the mod above, has Stunning Statues of Skyrim support as well. Forgotten Retex Project Stands for its name. Covers many objects "forgotten" by popular mods and just never being retextured before. Less Ugly Tundragrass Simple as that. Somehow missed by most of landscape/flora texture pack, ugly coverage texture is now much better. Skyrim SE Improved Puddles Better Shaped Female Creatures A matter of taste mod. But definitely much better shaped :) White Phial Replacer If using ENB, also grab this . EnneadShadowmarks Choose this mod or the one below. Real Shadowmarks Choose this mod or the one above. Ancient Dwemer Metal Best Dwemer automatons (and metal) models and textures ever. Install [only] textures from it (hide meshes folder if you're using MO, and for NMM, unzip the archive, remove meshes folder, zip back, add to NMM, and so, install textures only). Then, grab SE converted meshes from here
after mod installation itself. Lastly, return to that page again in the end of building your modded setup to grab needed patches.
Texture Overhaul (Clutter)
Some beautiful clutter retextures. May look too clean for some players though.
Dovahnique's Diverse Deathbells
Dovahnique's Diverse Deadly Nightshade
Dovahnique's Diverse Decaying Fungal Pods
Dovahnique's Diverse Dark Elf Lanterns
Dovahnique's Diverse Vendor Carts
Randomized, high poly replacers for dark elf lanterns, well-known plants and even vendor carts, using Base Object Swapper. ENB particle light animated meshes support.
Misc Retexture Project
Morrowind Style Skooma Bottle
Dead Shrub Be Gone - Base Object Swapper
Simple mod to get rid of or replace the dreaded ugly shrub type.
Aetherial Crown SE
Also install the WACCF patch.
Rally's Crates
Realistic HD Mushrooms Remastered
Realistic HD Food Remastered
Also install a fix .
Skyland Animated Mead and Ale Bottles
Realistic HD Blacksmith Remastered
Rudy HQ - Hay
3D Tundra Cotton
3D Thistle
Recommended to compress the textures to 2k.
3D Lavender
For most of ENB presets, it's recommended to also get the desaturated texture file.
3D Clover Plant
Hybrid version recommended.
3D Snow Berries
3D Sword Ferns
Recommended to compress the textures to 2k.
3D Pine Shrubs
3D Thicket and Dead Shrub
3D Stonecrop ==NEW==
3D Dragons Tongue
ENB particle light patch here.
Shrubbery Symphony - Enhanced Greenery ==NEW==
New high poly shrubs and plants models for your Skyrim. Comes with a FOMOD installer so you can choose what you like and don't like personally to achieve better blending with your personal modded setup.
High Quality Ivy Replacer - Base Object Swapper ==NEW==
Beautiful high-poly ivy replacers without any compatibility issues.
R's Windmill
Same here, but for a windmill. DynDOLOD patch available.
HQ Cozy Farmhouses
One more alternative for farmhouse textures.
Medieval Farmhouses
And one more - I'm personally using it currently.
Riton Farmhouse parallax II
High quality yet pretty unique look.
College of Winterhold - Glowing Symbols ==NEW==
Gemstones Replacers HD
Realistic Horse Breeds by KrittaKitty
More Saddles SSE - Horse
Better than Nando's
Snazzy Model Ship
Snazzy Quill of Gemination
Snazzy Furniture and Clutter Overhaul
Take into account that this mod also makes some clutter placements which may conflict to minor clipping conflicts with some interior overhaul mods.
Dark Brotherhood Tenets 16K 8K 4K 2K 1K 512 Redone
HD Sabre Cat Tooth Mesh and Texture
This author has dozens of other similar mods for Skyrim LE. You can port the meshes yourself using CAO.
HD Ruined Book Retexture 4k - 2k
MAPS
Realistic Boat Bobbing
Plenty of patches are available.
Better ropes for skyrim
Realistic Skin And Hair Shaders - Giants
Realistic Skin Shaders - Falmer and Hagravens
3D Mountain Flowers
Also install this.
HD Serpentine Dragon and Mesh Fix
Silky Spider Eggs
Refracting Ice Form Debris
Photoreal Foxes 2K HD Retexture
Cozy Campfires
Note: included in Pfuscher's AIO texture pack.
Unique Dragon Aspect
Salmon Retex - Realistic Salmon
Better Wall Basket Feathers
Dopesan's Farmhouse Stonewall
Optional. Use this one or the mod below.
Farmhouse Stonewalls 4K 2k by CleverCharff
Optional. Use this one or the mod above.
Ultimate HD Torch
LE mod. Works fine in SE.
A Potato Plant
KG's Frost Mirriam
KG's Elves Ear
Recommended to compress textures to 2k - 4k for potato and other, even smaller plants, is an absolute overkill and a waste if your VRAM.
Honningbrew Decanter Redone
2k version recommended.
Less ugly Solitude Catacombs Stone
The Business Ledger
SD version recommended (it's actually pretty much HD, file names are somewhat misleading).
CleverCharff's Photorealistic Ash Pile
Beautiful ash pile retexture. Note: ElSopa mod (profile linked below) covers ash pile as well, so choose one you prefer.
Mara 2k-4k Retexture
The "low saturation" version is recommended.
Velanimus Farmhouse Overhaul
Provides different meshes and textures to farmhouses.
Vanilla Rain and Snow Remade
Optional mod - simple, vanilla-like retexture for snow and rain.
Simple Snow Improvements - Skyrim (BOS)
A simple mod to improve the snow visuals on forgotten vanilla objects with Base Object Swapper support. You can also install addons for various other places here, here, here and there's also patch for the Great City of Winterhold (udpated standalone version).
Unreal 4K-8K Mammoth Skeleton ReTexture
CG4 Snow Effects
Snow sprinkles/drops from trees.
CG4 Trees and Bushes
A beautiful little tree addon - scatters 6 types of tree onto the land of Skyrim. DynDOLOD 3D LODs patch available.
High poly Mudcrab n Retexture
Wolves of Skyrim
Animated Tentacles for the GlowingMushrooms
Thickets to Marsh Plants
This mod changes the ugly thickets in the marsh by Solitude/Morthal to a much nicer marsh plant. Get the BOS version.
Animated Coffins
Animated Water Lily
Clams HD
Note: included in Pfuscher's AIO texture pack.
Pulsating Beating Heart ENB Light
Ore Vein Texture Fix
Better Blended Mushrooms
Eternal Flames
Replaces fire in nordic ruins with a blue eternal fire.
Wine Bottle Refine
Xyn's Reworked Elemental Cloak Spells
XNFRain's Civil War Map Flag Replacer
High Poly Dragonborn Ingredients Retextured
ENB lights for Aetherium shards
Solstheim mushrooms by Mari
4k version recommended.
High Poly Solstheim Mushroom Trees
Compatible with the mod above as it improves only model, not the texture.
High Poly Dwemer Hitch Post
Garlic - A Garlic Mod
The Dragon Aesthetic Project
Optional mod - makes dragons really huge and epic-looking. Mostly for screenshots, as these models can and will cause clipping in actual gameplay.
Unique Riften Bee and Barb Specials
Solitude Dome Paintings
Not quite lore-friendly either, but beautiful and may be interesting for some players.
Night Mummy- A Night Mother Makeover
Night Mother
Install both mods.
Vanilla HD Tree Branches
Compress textures to 2k, as 8k for tree branches is simply an overkill.
Strongbox Replacer
HD Stone Quarry and Clay Deposit
HD Wheat 2K 4K
NORDIC TENT 4K RETEXTURE
Hermaeus Mora - Water and tentacles - My HD version
Even tentacles need HD!
Kanjs - Forgotten Vale Cave Worm
Kanjs - Queen Bee
Don't forget to also grab the ENB particle lights patch.
Amy's Replacement Spell Runes
Fixed Nordic Metal Grate
Beehive Replacer - Mihail's Shards of Immersion
Apiaries Retexture by Pfuscher
Make sure to compress some of the textures in the mod folder, that are 8k resolution, to 2k.
Enhanced Spidersac
High Poly Gleamblossoms
Better Dirt Cliffs and Alphas
WiZkiD - Hall of the Dead Stained Glass Windows
4K HQ Cowhide Yeehaw
Dem fur.
Renthal Nettle
Juicy. Recommended to compress texture to 2k.
CleverCharff's Farmhouse Stone Floors
Alternative to farmhouse stonefloor if you don't like this texture from big packs.
Meridia's Luxon Beacon Replacer
New and pretty original look for the beacon.
SavrenX Gore
HD face...ahem, gorelift to various related objects.
ENB Particle Lights - Dwemer Lanterns
Adds ENB Complex Particle Lights to all Dwemer lanterns and chandeliers.
Real Rabbits HD
Brand new HD realistic textures for the rabbit. 5 new colors.
Skyrim 3D Docks and Boardwalks
Hearthfire Crispy Dumplings
SC - Cubemaps
Pick one of resolution versions.
Vivid Landscapes - Whiterun's Gildergreen Tree
A few optional textures from Vivid Landscapes author, which you may like more than similar texture in bigger packs.
Velexia's Candlelight and Magelight Edit
Edits the candlelight and magelight spells to have the exact same lighting as torches, while making the bright white mesh orbs invisible. It also changes the inventory art as well as the lighting effects while equipped and casting.
Glacies - Snow Retexture
Really great-looking snow mod, one of the best I've seen and definitely a great alternative.
Ancient Trees Of Skyrim
Dark fantasy models for both Gildergreen and Eldergleam.
Retexture for Bread - Hearthfire
Hot Lava - Heat Distortion
Realistic mesh replacer for lava. Also has a compatibility version for Praedy's incredible lava textures. Quick showcase of how it looks in a modded setup available here.
Iconic's Spiders of Skyrim Retexture
High-quality, a bit desaturated (which kinda makes sense) spider textures.
Falmer Overhaul - New models and textures
Visual falmers overhaul of a high quality with a refreshing touch. Note: there's also a great, but more vanilla-like falmer retexture from the author Kajuan in the end of this section. If you prefer this look for falmers, do not download his falmer mod. Some patches here.
GoT The Black Dread Skull Replacer
Replaces the dragon skull with the skull of Balerion the Black Dread. Incredible model, but absolutely optional, ofc.
Snazzy Bookcases
Distributes 3 different custom made book cases to The College of Winterhold, and any other mod-added bookcases using Base Object Swapper.
Viven Rain for ENB
Nocturnal's Portal HD
Realistic Paper Parchment and Scroll Texture
Install only the paper file.
Retexture for The Scroll
And now this one for scrolls retextures.
Cork Retexture
Some Braziers
Aetherium Falmer Cave Ceiling Glow
CC's UHD Coal Piles
Get the SMIM version.
Renthal's Reach Mountain Moss
Desaturated version recommended. May not be needed with most of the grass mods as they usually provide own texture for this one too.
High Poly Sweet Rolls
Improved Dwemer Glass
Improves the blue dwemer 'glass' or whatever it is which you see on the astrolabe and observatory aswell as other things. Get the ENB particle light patch from Files tab, and then also install the USSEP patch (ENB light version, main file is not needed) on top.
Eldergleam Sap - High poly
Umbral Embrace - A Nocturnal Visual Overhaul
Dibella Statue Replacer
Bottles Of Skyrim
Adds unique bottles to each beverage.
Higher resolution large portcullis collision mesh
Water in Wash Basins - Mesh-only Replacer
Also install this on top (get the version for this mod).
Particle Lights for ENB - Wisps - Witchlight
Particle Lights for ENB - Light Orbs - Motes
Upgraded Moondial
HD Reworked Shellbug
Unique Stros M'Kai Rum
Stalhrim Source
Transparent retexture of the stalhrim ore and deposits from the Dragonborn DLC.
Particle Lights for ENB - Stalhrim Deposits and Ore
ENB particle lights effect for the stalhrim deposits and ore from Solstheim, has a pach for the mod above.
WiZkiD Hagraven Clutter and Bones
Oil Lamp Trap Retexture
Windhelm Brazier Replacer
Pick the proper version from Files section, depending on mod you're using.
Blended Shorelines - No more jagged water edges
Note: Make sure that whatever water mod plugin you're using (like Realistic Water Two) is loaded after this mod plugin.
Better Windhelm Ground Meshes
Dragon Priest Staff Replacer
Improved Gourds
MM - REAL ELKS
Rally's Shaggy Cows of Skyrim
SavrenX Solstheim Creatures
Spiders of Solstheim - Transparency Fix
Also install the ENB paticle light patch (Scrambled Bugs version, overwrite the main mod).
3D Riften Trellis and Roofs
For such mods (that change settlements meshes), overwrite only Particle Patch and SMIM, and don't overwrite meshes from your major mesh/texture packs, like Pfuscher's.
3D Solitude Market Trellis
Also install this.
3D Whiterun Trellis
Also install this.
Snowy Skaal Village Stone Circle
Hawk Replacer and Eagles
Bone Hawk Replacer
Felsaad Tern Replacer
High-poly replacers for these 3 birbs.
Ants Replacer
Recommended to compress textures to 1k.
Juniper by Mari
Northfire's Skidmarks
Solstheim Objects SMIMed - High Poly Dark Elf Furniture
Ingredients
Dwemer Pipework Reworked
Beautiful glowing textures in this rework of Dwemer pipes, including Dwemer boilers.
Nordic Metalworks
Overwrite SMIM and Ruins Clutter Improved, but don't overwrite more "detailed" mods like Rudy's.
Rally's Weapon Racks
Thrones of Skyrim
Bears of the North
Install the hotfix from the Files section and also grab patches for SIC/SkyTest/Savage Skyrim here if needed.
Salmon Roe model replacer 3D
Imperial Stable - Stonewall Replacer
Texture packs changing the look of cities, guild halls and some other noticeable locations or location types (like bandit forts). Those textures, in like 95% cases are already covered by mods you have at this point, so these retextures are for you to choose from if you like their look more than current one or simply provide more high-quality retextures compared to "base" packs here and there. While all of them are just texture/model replacers which don't add anything to the places themselves, don't underestimate how much refreshed look they can give! Some places have more than one mod for you to pick from, so once again choose one that you prefer the most between several variants - or you can try to manually mix'n'match them yourself :)
Rally's Solstheim Landscapes If using ENB, make sure to install the parallax patch too. Skyrim Textures Redone - SkyHaven CC's HQ Alduins Wall Arri's Snow Elf Ruins Retexture CC's Fort Dawnguard Reborn Praedy's Fort Dawnguard Praedy's Soul Cairn Praedy's College of Winterhold 4k version is recommended, 2k is you get noticeable FPS drops with 4k one. Sovngarde HD Spice of Life - Orc Strongholds Patch for "FYX" mod series here
.
Mrf's Castle Volkihar
Skyrim Remastered - Castle Volkihar and Clutter
Vanilla-upscale style.
Castle Volkihar HD
CC's Castle Volkihar Reborn
Northfire's Castle Volkihar
Illustrious Whiterun
Riften of Reverie
Two beautiful retexture mods for Whiterun and Riften, from "Trees Addon" author.
Mrf's Riften
Northfire's Windhelm
Also install the fix file.
Sublime Solitude - A HD Rework
A highly detailed, hand made Solitude retexture. Highly inspired by the original concept art for the game.
Extravagant Interiors - Solitude
Also grab ELFX and Solitude Dome Paintings patches if using these mods.
Markarth Fixed AF
Markarth finally fully fixed, all buildings, terrains, clutters and landscape meshes have been carefully fixed and improved for proper general, lighting and shadows look. Just install it and you'll instantly see a difference. Note: do not overwrite this mod meshes by other mods.
Rally's Tel Mithryn
4k version recommended for modern rigs.
Riften Architectural Details
Riften 3D Docks
Breath Of The Wind - Temple Textures
An airy retexture of the Temple of Kynareth. Compatible with interior overhauls.
Pride of the Companions - Shields of Jorrvaskr
Better Wooden Spikes Texture
Window textures. Choose one:
RUSTIC WINDOWS My personal preference. Skyland Windows - A Pane in the GlassBanners textures. Choose one. Note: for banner retexture mods, if you have some other mods that change textures of certain places (like College, Dawnguard HQ and such, better to NOT overwrite such mods with the banner mods for better consistensy with the texture packs for those places):
Designs of the Nords Ennead - Banners Sigils of Skyrim - Banner Retexture Get the banner retextures from Files tab if you prefer them.Guard shields textures. Choose one:
CC's HQ Guard Shields Ennead - Shields Sigils of Skyrim - Shield Retexture Get the shield retextures from Files tab if you prefer them.Some variants for lockpicking retexture/remodel. Choose one:
Lockpicking Interface Redone JS Lockpicking UI I'm using this one. Lock o Motion Security Overhaul SKSE - Lock Variations SKSE based framework for replacing overused lock model with unique lock variants. Doesn't conflict with vanilla lock retexture mods. Optionally, install addons from here, here (make sure to grab this lil mod too for Soul Cairn locks to appear on the chests to begin with) and here. If you're on Skyrim "VR", install this as well.Some variants for standing stones. Choose one:
Astral Aspect - 4K Standing Stones Rudy HQ - Standing Stones My personal favourite.Some variants for road signs. Choose one:
Weathered Road Signs Not just provides improved textures, but places some new signposts here and there logically. Also grab the little fix for it. Road Signs Overhaul Similar mod with own approach. Skyland HD Road Signs My Road Signs are Beautiful This mod has a texture patch for Weathered Road Signs, so you can use this one on top of it. Five Cities Roadsigns HQ CC's HQ Roadsigns Road Signs Overhaul 2.0 Note: this mod also places news signs and adds clutter around them, so patches for some popular mods are required. Some are provided by the mod author in the Files tab. HD Road Signs ElSopa HD - Unique Hand Painted Road Signs Definitely original work, yet also very vibrant and may look not lore-friendly for many players. A matter of personal taste.Better looking potions. Choose one:
RUSTIC ANIMATED POTIONS and POISONS Vanilla+ potions retexture from Gamwich. Awesome Potions Simplified Another beautiful potion replacer and my personal favourite, with animations and much fantasy look. Updated version of the original mod. Also grab the ENB particle light patch. ElSopa - Potions Redone Another great vanilla+ potion replacer mod from ElSopa. Also some patches here. Medieval Potions HQ- Engraved Bottles Ultimate and extreme potions One more potion models/textures replacer, but this time only for "ultimate" potions type. Smaller and Better Blood Potion Can be used on top of other "main" potion replacers. Smaller Potion of Blood Simple as that. Can be used with the mod above, patch available in Optional Files tab. Potion of Blood - My version Use this one or the two mods combined above. Note that this one requires Elsopa's potion replacer mod. Sleeping Tree Sap - My version Vaermina's Torpor - My version
These ones you can also install on top of the massive potion retexture packs above. Get the ENB version if using ENB. Note that these both also require Elsopa's potion replacer mod.
Vaermina's Torpor - Enhanced
One more beautiful alternative. This one requires Awesome Potions Simplified.
Forgotten Potions and Poisons ==NEW==
Gives unique models to all those potions and poisons that use a recycled one. Can use on top with the general big potions replacers. Note: Changes Vaermina's Torpor as well.
City signs mods. Choose one:
SkyFix SE - HD Blacksmith Signs + Beautiful Honey SignsElSopa HD - Unique Hand Made Signs Overhaul My personal favourite. I'd recommend to also install desaturated pack of textures on top, from mod's Files tab. Skyrim 3D Signs Volumetric, somewhat ascetic models. WiZkiD Signs I'm using this mod from time to time as an alternative to ElSopa's signs, or mix them together. With this mod, you can also install this one on top. Mystical Illumination - Glowing Signs A [very] original look of the signs, high-fantasy, I'd say. Make sure you've installed the proper version of main file.
Better ice and glaciers look. Choose one:
Glacierslab My personal favourite. Icy Mesh Remaster - Ice Glaciers and LOD This mod remasters all of skyrims ice meshes. You can use it with ice texture mods that it provides patches for, but not with ice mesh overhauls. Has a patch for GlacierSlab mod above. Icy Cave Remaster Icy Glaciers Holy Glaciers Just Ice RIS - Real Ice and Snow Skyrim Remastered - Glaciers and Ice Also grab the textures upscale patch. Animated Ice Floes If you're getting missing ice floes LODs, get this fix.Ore/ingots retextures. Choose one:
CC's Enhanced Ore Veins I'd recommend "less glowing ore" version here. Optional ENB particle light patch available. Metallurgy - Ingots Ore and Veins HD The Refinery - Ingots. Ores. Veins. My current favourite.Arvak look. Choose one:
The Elder Scrolls V Rewritten - Arvak
Optional addon available.
Arvak Replace
Arvak - My version
Shadowmere look. Choose one:
Shadowmere Rework ShadowmereReplaceBetter shrines look. Choose one:
Rens HD Shrines Remiros' Shrines HD JS Shrines of the Divines I'm using this one, though some players may find this mod textures "too glorious" compared to nordic Skyrim style. Retexture pack available here .Dragon corpse textures. Choose one:
RUSTIC DRAGON CORPSE I'm using this one. Frankly HD Dragon BonesDragon priests masks. Choose one:
4K Dragon Priest Masks of Immersion Masks of the Dovah Sonaak I'm using this one. incredible details. Vanilla-wise look. A lot of options and great compatibility with armor mods. Apophysis Dragon Priest Masks A great alternative - beautiful texture and very original look. Unique Dragon Priest Masks - HD texturesShips/boats look. Choose one:
Joy of Ships DK's Realistic Nord Ships Skyland - Ships and Shacks Rowboats of skyrim Boats and Ships 8k 4k 2k Pick between 2k an 4k versions, don't use 8k one.Common dragon retextures. Choose one:
RUSTIC DRAGONS Iconic's Dragon Retexture My personal favourite. Regal Dragons GoT Dragons Unusual, but of an incredible quality visual mod - changes the look of Skyrim dragons to how they looked in the Game of Thrones. You can also find some extra GOT/HOTD dragon replacers (for mods as well) here. Higher Poly Vanilla Dragons Note: this one you can use on top of dragon texture-only replacers like Rustic Dragons or Iconic's Dragon Retexture - they only affect meshes (dragon models), making them more high-poly (volumetric/modern-looking).New texture/model for Alduin. Choose one:
Alduin DragonSkin retex by DarkDukla Alduin's Imprefvicticious and Chapper's Demonic Retexture mashup Deiform Alduin Drogon Alduin - Monstrrous GoT Dragons Alduin based on GOT Dragons mod above.Odahviing retextures. Choose one:
Thanatos Odahviing Replacer Odahviing Replacers
ORP - The Odahviing Retexture Project
Nithhogg Odahviing Replacer
Replaces Odahviing with Nithhogg by Zerofrost.
Paarthurnax retextures. Choose one:
Paarthurnax DragonSkin by DarkDukla Black lava is my fav. Jormungandr Paarthurnax Replacer Replaces Odahviing with Nithhogg by Zerofrost. Rhaegal Paarthurnax - Monstrrous GoT Dragons 8k version recommended for modern rigs.Durnehviir retextures. Choose one:
Thanatos as Durnehviir Replaces Durnehviir with Zerofrost's beautiful Thanatos dragon. Even More Undead GoT Durnehviir Durnehviir based on "GOT Dragons" mod assets.Improved horses look. Choose one:
SC - Horses Probably the most beautiful and detailed horse replacer currently existing. You don't need to pay to download it - it's free, just hosted on authoress Patreon. Downlonad the mod archive manually, add it to your mod manager and install as usually. Light Horses of Skyrim Light riding horses in Skyrim now! Correct light horse anatomy and 13 unique fur colors. Skyrim Horses Renewal New mesh, texture and animation for Skyrim horses. zzjay's Horse Overhaul Well-made, vanilla-improved textures.Shock spells and fx. Choose one:
ELECTRIFY S.E. Voltage Thunderbolt - HD Lightning Based on the Voltage mod above (standalone).Fine, let's move.
Various "specialised" armor, weapons, clothing, jewels and other artifacts retextures - meaning that those items are most likely already retexture by the mods you have now, yet, these mods provide either better quality or distinct appearance by introducing new models together with improved textures. There can be several options for a same object - for example, several mods retexturing daedric armor, so there you will have several options to pick from. Note: There are some additional options for some armors and weapons (like Frankfamily faction armors or Vpulse08 weapon replacers), yet as they are highly numerous but made by same authors, those are linked later in this section.
RUSTIC CLOTHING Opulent Outfits Vanilla Texture Replacer 2k version recommended. Better fur - Fine clothes ==FPS== Adds detailed 3D fur to the vanilla Fine Clothes. Fluffy! Compatible with all mods that change only textures (like the mods above) - but take into account that this mod may noticeably affect performance in populated areas if you have not a high-end rig. Unique Uniques Updated Skyrim SE port of a popular mod which replaces some unique weapons models and improves textures to make them look really unique. ArteFakes - Unique Artifacts Replacer A fresh similar mod which also cover many artifacts and unique weapons to look distinct, also covering numerous items not touched by the mod above. CL's Weapon-replacer's Installing this mod is optional, up to you. A great replacer mod for some vanilla weapons, giving them new models with unique look. Weapons affected - all ebony, orcish & daedric weapons, Dawnbreaker, Blade of Woe, Ebony Blade & Chillrend. Runed Nordic Weapons Also an optional mod - gives nordic weapons a glowing runes on the weapons edges. Real Bows Optional mod. More realistic, medieval-like vanilla bows replacers. Better-Shaped Bows of the Heavens
A mod that keeps the vanilla look of bows, but makes them thinner.
Praedy's Staves AIO
Overhaul of skyrim's staves giving each staff type and enchantment it's own unique appearance. Lots of patches for popular magic and other mods here .
"Resurgence" armor retexture series
By a talented IconicDeath. Great-looking yet lore-friendly. See yourself! Patches available here, here and here.
HD Falmer Armor - Weapons - Huts - Everything - Glow
Daedric Dagger from Morrowind
Daedric Dagger re-stylized in morrowind art.
JS Unique Utopia - Daggers
A complete visual remake of the unique daggers of Skyrim. Comes in 1k, 2k & 4k versions.
Steel Weapons Replacer
Silver Swords Replacer
Steel and silver weapons replacers, where new models are taken from Billyro mods.
Akaviri Katana - Blades Sword Replacer
Bloodskal Blade 3
Vpulse08 profile
For plenty of absolutely sick (and often variation-adding) vanilla weapon replacers.
Refracting Stalhrim Armors and Weapons
Superb Shield of Solitude Replacer
ThranduilElvenKind profile
A mesh/texture overhauls for close to all vanilla projectiles like arrows/bolts. New look may appear not very lore-friendly to some players though.
Woodcutter Axe Redone
Ebony Weapons 2017 Retexture
RUSTIC AMULETS
High Poly Amulets of the Divines
SavrenX Lux Weapons
Beautiful HD retextures of some weapons. Note: if using JS Dagger Utopia, don't get the dagger retextures from this mod.
xavbio profile
For dozens of well-made armor retextures, for both vanilla and some popular modded armors.
iimlenny profile
For new, high-poly models for many food and clutter of an absolutely ridiculous, in the best meaning of this possible, quality.
I Want Better Arrows
Optional mod - realistic-looking arrow models & textures. Will fit better when used with bow mods like Real Bows.
Alternate Blade of Woe
Auriel's Bow of Light
Optional mod. Makes the pattern and bowstring of Auriel's bow glow in a color of your choice.
QuestionableKhajiit profile
For some "realism" oriented vanilla weapon and armor models/textures.
Project NordwarUA
Armor project which aims to replace look of near to all vanilla Skyrim armors by realism-oriented models made by NordwarUA.
Dark Brotherhood HD armor retexture
Best retexture of Shrouded armor existing, imo. Black version recommended. Works just fine in SE>
Ahzidal's Armor Set - My version
Yup.
Ancient Falmer Armor Replacer
Replaces the Ancient Falmer Armor from the Dawnguard DLC with this set. Inspired by Lor'themar Theron's Armor from World of Warcraft.
Daedric Armor Remastered
Highly detailed repatinings of all daedric wearables, ebony mail, saviors hide, masque of CV, rings of hircine and namira, and finally the spell breaker shield.
Elegant Necklaces
Replaces basic silver and gold necklaces. Vanilla oversized models are replaced with smaller necklaces, with some shape and color tweaks.
Paragon of Mannimarco - Replacer for the Necromancer's Amulet
Necromancers Amulet Replacement
Choose one of these.
The last few links are gathered exactly here for 2 reasons. Some of these works are absolutely exceptional quality and so, should be installed the very last to ensure nothing overwrites them. Secondly, most of the links are links to mod author profiles - some of them have dozens of retexture/remodel mods, and so, this will simply save a lot of space for the guide and time for you. Some of the mods you may already have though -as some of them I've made sure to link separately because of the great quality.
Rougeshot meshes Already almost 30 creature types received much more realistic meshes. Get'em'all! IWantATardis profile You won't need all mods from this author, but still, there's decent amount of various "forgotten" things retextures. Rallyeator profile Same, for many other objects. Gamwich profile Gamwich is a highly talented texture artist and also incredibly productive - over 20 texture packs (LE has twice as more of them, but you can use most of them as is without need of a conversion), from small standalone retexture (vampire hounds, spiders or horkers) to a wide-covering mods (like rustic clothing which covers several dozens of clothes in the game). Some of his most noticeable texture mods are already linked above, but he has so much more - and you may prefer his textures look over other mods. Take a peek for sure! Janissrim For high-poly models for some objects mostly not covered by other mods. ICFur profile For many hq replacers for various "forgotten" plants and small trees. StoneSpiralGaming profile For multiple animated models of various clutter and small buildings. Johnskyrim profile For remodels/retextures of most various objects that mostly outclass any other mod changing the look of same things. TheBlenderAnimator profile For almost hundred of mods for various single objects, giving them high-poly mods and quality textures. MystiriousDawn profile For many quality texture mods, mostly landscape ones. Some of the textures may somewhat out of place depending on your mod list, but the overall quality for most is great, so you may find a good match for your setup here and there. FrankBlack profile ==NEW== For some immesively qualitative model and texture improvements for some small objects, as well as "diverse" look for some food/clutter based on the Base Object Swapper. Hanaisse profile For classy ingredients and some other small things retextures. Yuril profile For 3D meshes for many "forgotten", usually settlements-related materials and countless collision fixes. PSBoss For high-qulality, NSFW look of statues and some creatures. Haladoon profile Even more small retextures. avebrave profile For many absolutely sick vanilla unique/quest jewel replacers. Patches for popular mods here.
Remiros profile
You thought that's it? Ha!
ElSopa profile
And even more. Elsopa mostly focuses on absolutely forgotten things in great quality. Meredia's Beacon? Dust piles? Perk menu constellations? All that and much more.
RemmyKun profile
For lots of HD retextures and ENB particle light meshes for most different objects, as well as texture fixes for some mods.
Kajuan profile
Definitely the best-looking textures for many creature types.
SDlutz profile
Ultra high poly models and realistic, medieval textures for some Skyrim clutter.
Hype1 profile
Literally magnificent door meshes and textures for cities. Amount of mods is growing gradually, so check his profile from time to time. Optionally, install this and also look for many farhmhouse door color variations to better fit your modded setup here.
Frankly HD mods
When it comes to vanilla armors (and sometimes weapons) retextures and better models, FrankFamily is simply out of competition. His mods are breathtakingly HD and detailed, while preserving original look. Unrivaled Nightingale, Dawnguard, Thieves Guild, Shrouded, Imperial, Dragonbone armors and some other great retexture mods are here.
JS Emissive Eyes
Adds Glowing Eyes (with ENB Particle Light) to enemy NPC's that change color based on combat status. Fully configurable MCM menu included. Also take a look on patches here and here.
Rudy HQ - Miscellaneous
For all clutter it covers, this Rudy mod is also unrivaled - in both terms of models and textures. Install it last, grab all optional addons you want and don't forget a patch for Smoking Torches and Candles (if you have it). Also install this .
Rudy's "More Lights" mods
Also check out his profile for revolutionary mesh mods that allows "Complex Particle Lights" feature from ENB to work on these objects. After installing the chosen mods, you can also grab some fixes for them here.
Embers HD
One ember mod to rule them all. Follow the installer and pick options you need. Enjoy!
KD - Realistic Fireplaces
A complete remake of fireplaces with new, 3D meshes and HD textures - compatible with the mod above. Optional retexture for logs available. Note: now, as you've installed these two (Embers HD and KD Fireplaces mods), reinstall the Inferno mod if you're using it, and choose proper patch options for this mods in installer. Nice!
Animated Embers
FYX - Sparks of Fire reacts to the Wind
Make sure to get Embers HD version.
Hearthfire Oven ENB Light
ENB Lights For Effect Shaders
Sprites or Specters - ENB Light
Scrambled Bugs Version recommended.
Apocrypha ENB Light
Misc Effects ENB Light
Mostly arbitrary effects, see if you want those.
Simplicity of Snow
A light-weight snow mod designed to minimize conflicts. Uses your own snow texture and removes snow from under roofs. Majestic Mountains patch here .
Shaders of Solstheim - Ash and Moss
Light-weight ash and moss material shaders.
Aviform profile
Check it to get decent amount of qualitative retexture mods for various little things - animal ingredients, food and even insects!
WeldingMans profile
For several small, but incredible mods related to ENB lights support (smelter, enchanting table - smelter compatible with embers HD, btw) and improved snow blending.
LossRec profile
For lots of beautiful ENB light addons for different objects.
IconicDeath profile
For many beautiful textures for certain "forgotten" objects - from Gray Fox bust to creature retextures.
CALEB2 profile
For various "glowing" textures for some objects and critters.
PraedythXVI profile
For incredibly HQ textures and models for some vanilla weapons, armors and misc items. Note: for their "vanilla tabler replacer" mod, it's also recommended to install this (choose version depending on whether you're using LUX or not) and this for some visual fixes.
Skyrim Landscape and Water Fixes
This mod corrects numerous graphic glitches around Tamriel worldspace. It's also still in development, so make sure to track it to always have latest version.
Animated Forge Water
Skyrim forge water still looks terrible. Fortunately, this solves the problem. Has patches for Embers HD and Elsopa anvil mods.
Rudification - Rudy Candles Expanded
Amazing project that took countless hours to make - adds Rudy's amazing candle models to large number of candle types in various objects that didn't have them. Compatible with Lux by default and provides compatibility patches for manny other popular mods.
Better body models, head models. Better textures for skin, eyes, hair, brows, beards etc. Usually, you can install as many eyes and hair mods as you want - just be sure these mods are standalone. Situation with body and skin mods is different - you can have only one in each category (on top of UNP or CBBE, usually), so choose which you like the most. Absolutely all choices here are nothing else but matter of taste - so read the mod pages, look at screenshots and choose whatever you like.
Note: Mods in this section often have textures from 1k to 4k and even 8k resolution for skin, 2k or 4k resolution for beards etc - use such high-res version only in case you're aiming on screenarchery. For regular gameplay, taking something like 8k skin or 2k brows makes no practical sense and will just waste your VRAM. FPS hit will depend completely and only on your resolution choice.
Body/skin mods (female):
UNP Female Body Renewal - A female face and body replacer Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer -CBBE- Also grab this if you want more feminine hands.
Note: Most of other skin mods are based on either UNP or CBBE, so always read the mod page and get the proper file in case mod has different versions for UNP and CBBE. SeveNBase a custom FemaleBodyReplacer UNP Blessed Body Fair Skin Complexion Mature Skin You can also grab optional specular maps replacer here. My Personal Skin Texture Skin texture aimed on realism - having stretch marks etc. Bijin Skin UNP and CBBE This mod, in my personal opinion, maintains the "golden middle" balance - it makes females look much more attractive and fresh, but not turning them into "anime-like" characters with washed out skin. But once again, everyone to their own :) Pride of Valhalla - Super HD Skin Set for UNP-UNPB-7B-CBBE Reverie - Skin LOVERGIRL Skin - HD Complexion for Women REALORE SKIN ULTIMA V2 The Pure CBBE and UNP - 4K or 8K Female Skin Textures Touched by Dibella SG Female Textures Renewal - CBBE Tempered Skins for Females - UNP Seductive Lips HD
Body/skin mods (male):
SkySight Skins - Ultra HD 4K 2K Male Textures and Real Feet Meshes That's what I'm personally using. Tempered Skins for Males Better Males Remesh for Skyrim SE Vitruvia - Skin texture overhaul for males REALORE MEN'S Skin Texture LOVERBOY Male Skin - HD Complexion for Men
Eyes mods:
The Eyes Of Beauty
You can also try the improved version instead.
Improved Eyes Skyrim
Kala's Eyes
Adds 51 new eyes including some blind & heterochromia variants for human males & females.
Kala's Eyes-Elf Eyes Updated with Orsimer
A similar mod from the same author for elves and orcs.
H.U.E - Handmade Unique Eyes
Replaces all Vanilla eyes of all races and genders including vampires with custom options. Updated version of the mod. If you want standalone version, look here.
The Witcher 3 Eyes
Summer's Custom Eyes
Elemental Eyes
Eyes of The Beholder
Mystic Eyes
Even More Eyes by Koralina
65+ new eyes.
The Eyes Of Beauty - Vampire Eyes Remastered
Improved version of the existing mod.
Underworld Awakening - Hybrid Vampire Eyes
Fangs and Eyes - A Vampire Appearance Mod
Ruby Red Vampire Eyes
Feral Eyes - Beast Eyes for Humanoid Races
Kala's Vampire Eyes
Heterochromia Reborn - a Complete Eye Customization Overhaul
Two new sliders in RaceMenu allow you to control your Left and Right eyes independently and choose from a flexible list of eye textures for each eye.
Hair mods:
ApachiiSkyHair Optional retexture addon available. KS Hairdos Optional retexture addons are available here and here , and multicolor addon as well. There's also a HDT version. KS Hairdos Lite Combined Hairstyles Collection VHR - Vanilla Hair Replacer Shiva's Vanilla Hair Replacer This patches page can come in handy. Vanilla Hairs Fixes Mysti's Tincture - Immersive Hair Colors for Skyrim Replace the vanilla hair colors with new colors. High Poly Vanilla Hair This mod can (and should) be used with vanilla hair retextures as it modifies only hair meshes, making them looking much more volumetric. You can also watch a showcase of it here.
Beards/brows mods:
Beards Hirsute Beards SV Beards Dwemer Beards Blackbeerd's Beards 17 more new beards. Beards of Power Over a hundred of absolutely spectacularly-looking beards of all posisble shapes and legth, as well as with some decorations. You can see a video showcase of them here. Beard stubble HD Retexture for the beard stubbles. Brows Kalilies Brows
Adds 15 new eyebrows for female characters, including asymmetrical ones. Absolutely stunning quality. If you have High Poly Head, also install this.
Kyoe's Bang'n Brows
If using High Poly Head, also install this.
Scars/warpaints/tattos etc:
Northborn Scars
If using High Poly Head, install this and overwrite.
DomainWolf profile
For vast variety of spectacular character customization mods - warpaints, freckles, tatoos, fullbody paints, scars and more.
Facial Piercings
Elewin Jewelry - Navel Piercings for UNP
Tattoo for UNP and CBBE and Better male
Dragon Age Dalish Vallaslin Face Tattoo's for Racemenu
Niohoggr Warpaints
Lyru's Tattoo pack collection
Lyru's Tattoo pack collection 2
Two packs of tattoos adding around 120 new ones in total.
MOLES - Racemenu Overlay Collection
A collection of Racemenu overlays, containing over 300 mole textures for your character: 114 Facial and 215 Body.
Jane'sBody Tattoos for UNP Body
RaceMenu - Animated Overlays
Allows you to choose RaceMenu overlays to only show up when you're fighting, as well as offering a selection of particle effects to use in or out of combat.
Battle wounds
Adds realistic battle wounds to your character or followers.
Rutah's Warpaint
Lamenthia's Marks of Beauty
50+ face overlays for freckles, moles, age spots, birthmarks and more. They are for female characters, but some of them look good on men as well.
Beast race (khajiits & argonians) mods:
Feminine Khajiit Textures (Grey Cat and Leopard) Masculine Khajiit Textures (Grey Cat and Leopard) Muscular Khajiit Textures and Skeleton Better Khajiit female body Texture for UNP and CBBE body Pretty Khajiit Feminine Argonian Textures (Chameleon and Lizard) Masculine Argonian Textures (Chameleon and Lizard) Female Dragonic Argonian Textures Male Dragonic Argonian Textures Beastly Beastmen A throwback to Morrowind, this mod improves upon Argonians and Khajiits so that they no longer look like people in costumes, and look more like actual beast hybrids. Complete NPC Overhaul - Argonians - High Poly Head FAR - Forgotten Argonian Roots BAT - Bigger Argonian Tails BeastHHBB - Khajiit and Argonian content - player character and NPC replacer Khajiit Eyes Extended - Khajiit Heterochromia and More Argonian - Khajiit FabULook Eyes SSE Drachis Argonian Eyes Argonian Vampire Eyes - Dawnguard Khajiit Vampire Eyes - Dawnguard Glowing Khajiit Eyes Glowing Argonian Eyes Argonian Hair Plus Better Argonian Horns Better beast race scars Kala's Eyes- Beast Race Edition Khajiit Argonian Some lore friendly eyes for Khajiits and Argonians. Khajiit Overhaul High-poly head meshes and new bodies.
Others:
High Poly Head Simple as that - more detailed head mesh. Xenius Character Enhancement Complete The huge pack of textures for many things - body and face textures, scars and more, from talented Xenius. Usually, you many want to use only some of the files - for this, download the mod manually, unpack, delete everything you don't need, zip the files you need back, add to mod manager and install as usually. Mild Complexions Realistic facial complexions to add freckles, wrinkles, or other imperfections to your skin. Compatible with almost all skin texture mods, and it applies to males and females. Smile in HD HD teeth texture. Hi-Res Teeth And one more. BnP - Teeth Overhaul And one more. Closed Mouths for Orcs Allows your favourite green folk to close their mouths. Compatible with the mod below. FA ORCODONTIST - Orsimer Mouth and Teeth Fix Fixes lingering issues of the male and female Orc mouth's. Goam's Elven Ears
3 new female elven ears for Racemenu.
Wounds Overlays For RaceMenu
Racemenu - Thigh Position Sliders
Here we go with the list of mods that improve visual appearance of NPCs - female, male and children. Here you can find something for any taste (besides the absolutely unrealistic overhauls which are not included). Current list contains (mostly) standalone mods - these mods don't require other mods to work properly, plug'n'play!
Before you start, if you prefer the visual presentations, you can take a look at some of these mods:
Female overhauls.
Bijin Warmaidens Also install this lil fix
.
Bijin NPCs
Also grab a fix .
Bijin Wives
Legendary mods that beautify many memorable female characters. My personal favorite between all similar mods for named characters, an essential mod series for me personally. You may also be interested in alternative look addon for Lydia, Aela and Ria, as well as in "customizers" for warmaidens, NPCs and wives respectively.
Now just a minute of your attention to our best bae, Serana (and her family):
Seranaholic Amazing overhaul of Serana with several different versions and options, also offering Valerica overhaul (Files tab). From the author of Bijin series. I'm using this one for Serana and Valerica. Superb Serana Pandorable's Serana My personal #2 favorite. Optional "hood + hair" patch available. Anima Nera - SerketHetyt's Serana Overhaul
A beautiful Serana replacer, looking inspired by the "Another World" movie to me.
Serana Re-Imagined
Kalilies Serana
Serana and Claire
Also offers a standalone follower version with different character name (if you like this look, but also want original Serana affected by another mod).
Serana no ESP
Pandorable's Valerica
ThePurpleTie1's Volkihar Family Redone
Refined Volkihars - Serana Valerica Harkon
Ok, let's continue.
Pandorable's NPCs A really great female overhaul which has a good balance between attractiveness and "not too much". Its another huge advantage is it's fully compatible with whole Bijin series, covering only NPCs not touched by Bijin mods. Vahdin - Female Npc Replacer A spice of life mod for female npcs. Skyrim Beautiful Followers This mod is definitely not much lore-friendly, but it covers just huge amount of NPCs and the quality is actually good. Take into account you need to install Skyrim LE version of the mod first, and then overwrite its .esp file with this one. The Ordinary Women A great alternative if you don't like Bijin mod series. It also covers some NPCs not covered by Bijin, so you can use both together, with load order depending on your preference. Optional hair physics version available. Courageous Women - High Poly Head Female NPC Overhaul A female NPC overhaul of over a hundred!! NPCs using High Poly Head. AIO FOMOD installer with separate texture resolutions and warpaint or not warpaint choice. Kalilies NPCs Changes the appearance of 59 female NPCs. Nightmarezone profile For a plenty unique replaces for popular (mostly, but not limited to) female NPCs. Fresh Faces A small NPC overhaul mod with own approach to some female NPCs look. Metalsabers Beautiful Orcs of Skyrim Dedicated and pretty good overhaul for female orc characters. Take into account that it uses [your] skin & eyes mods, so end result may vary. Metalsabers Elegant Elves of Skyrim Similar overhaul for female elves, from the same author. GLAM Karliah
A visual overhaul of a fellow nightingale.
SavrenX Aela
BloodMoon - SerketHetyt's Aela Overhaul
Mature Mamas of Skyrim
Initially this mod adds a few generic female followers, but also makes a really nice mature appearance overhaul of Delphine which you can get.
Camilla Valerius Overhaul
SavrenX Ysolda
Aesthetic Elisif
Give your future High Queen the facelift she needs.
The Wolven Widow - SerketHetyt's Elisif Overhaul
Hathaway - High Poly Replacer of Elisif
A replacer turning Elisif and Laila into Anne Hathaway. Because why not?
Skyrim Ladies - Astrid
A really well-made Astrid overhaul.
Sensual Hagraven - A Hagraven Replacer
A more "humane" and "witchy" hagravens replacer, giving many of them unique look.
Male overhauls.
The Men of Winter You may also like this addon for it. Pandorable's NPCs - males Pandorable's NPCs - males 2 To me personally, these 2 mods are the ones to-go for duderinos upgrade. Dx's Better Men of Skyrim Alternative mod for some of promiment skyrim guys. Distinct Husbands A visual overhaul of the male spouses. PoeticAnt44 profile For various male visual overhauls (and presets). The Handsome Courier Immersive Courier Vander Nightbrook - Courier Replacer
An amazing mod which provides a fully voiced courier replacer with a visual overhaul as well.
Dapper Deliveries - A Courier Overhaul
One more makeover mod for Skyrim's favorite delivery boy.
Wolf Twins - Vilkas and Farkas Replacers
Get the mod from the Files tab.
TDN Improved Lucien - Spectral Assassin Replacer
Lucien in the best shape!
Mods covering both guys and gals.
Pandorable's NPCs - Dawnguard From the authoress of Pandorable NPCs mod, here goes her beautiful overhaul for many female and male Dawnguard DLC characters. Patch for Immersive Fort Dawnguard here
.
Pandorable's NPCs - Dragonborn
Hold on to your hats, we're going to Solstheim.
Inhabitants of Skyrim - NPC Overhaul
Really great coverage and close-to-vanilla look in most of cases.
Pandorable's Heroes of Sovngarde
Because dead people deserve to be pretty too. Another gem from talented Pandorable.
Followers Hirelings and Housecarls
Pretty much stands for its name - changes several dozens of NPCs, with a big care about original look.
Distinct People
Another big-covering overhaul. Take into account though that it requires KS Hairdos and also uses whatever skin/eyes mods you have, so the end result may vary.
Realistic faces
Around 80 NPCs altered, with new hairs and better skin look, while also trying to stick close to original appearance.
Improved Bards
Standalone mod that replaces the appearance of the bards across Skyrim.
Pandorable's Initiates
A replacer for the two Dark Brotherhood Initiates. I recommend the "custom voices" version.
Elevated NPCs
Tragedian profile
For a lots of middle-sized NPC overhauls for factions, followers and more. Now also for mod-added NPCs.
DylanJamesWasTaken profile
Various visual overhauls of different NPCs in cities, and companions.
Jarls Re-Imagined Redux
Southpawe profile
For a few more high-poly NPC overhauls.
eeekie's Enhanced NPCs
Unique-looking, realistic NPC replacers.
Project ja-Kha'jay- Khajiit NPC Diversity Overhaul
This mod overhauls the looks of named Khajiit to add some (lore-friendly!) diversity. An absolute must-have, imo. Note: while being a visual overhaul and thus located in this section, it's recommended to install it after you'll finish the "Animations" section of the guide. Some patches here.
Children of the Hist - An Argonian NPC Overhaul ==NEW==
An overhaul of a great quality that changes all Argonian NPCs look, from the author of the mod above.
Children overhauls.
RS Children Overhaul A well-deserved most popular children overhaul. For great compatibility with other mods, there are 2 patches pages here and here. You may also like this optional addon for it.
Note: A bug leading to endless loading screen is happening when using this mod and USSEP, to fix it read the sticky post here. Realistic RS Children Overhaul Currently my favourite children overhaul due to a great balance between improved appearance and realism. Make sure to install the RS Children Overhaul mod itself first, and then install this one and overwrite. You can also optionall install this addon which adds 8 new adoptable children to the game, with the similar appearance style. TK Children Note: A bug leading to endless loading screen is happening when using this mod and USSEP, to fix it read the sticky post here. Simple Children Great quality while sticking to lore-friendly look and just huge amount of patches for popular mods compatibility.
Note: A bug leading to endless loading screen is happening when using this mod and USSEP, to fix it read the sticky post here. The Kids Are Alright Renewal Updated version of the original "Kids Are Alright" mod.
Now let's get to UI (shortening from User Interface) mods. Icons, widgets, notifications, proper menus look on all resolutions - that's all UI. So a good UI mod always comes in handy. The main task of UI mods is to make your gameplay more comfortable, navigating in menus more intuitive, adding more useful widgets and spending less time in menus in general, enjoying the gameplay. Some of the absolutely essential UI mods like SkyUI or Better Dialogue/Messagebox Controls you already have - but there're quite a few more amazing mods to serve you.
HUD overhauls and various massive UI additions:
SkyHUD Toggle HUD elements on or off, scale sizes, change positions and swap elements with alternative version. Features dot crosshair, slim compass, alternate ammo display, detached compass markers and built-in support for font mods. Dear Diary - Paper SkyUI Menus Replacer Journal, Inventory, MCM, Favorites etc, a "paper" interface replacer and my personal favourite between similar mods. Optional "dark" skin is available here (+ a reskins for it here and here , main menu replacers ), "wood and paper" skin here and mod-added weapon icons patch here . Horizons UI Overhaul A complete fantasy UI and HUD replacer. Modular installation through the FOMOD and optional transparent versions. Somewhat similar to Dear Diary Dark Mode, but with an own style. Alternate tween menu version available here. Outlander UI Modern minimal-fantasy UI skin with a focus on visibility and clarity. Less Intrusive HUD II Less Intrusive HUD II allows you to tweak / change pretty much every element in the vanilla HUD straight in game. Paper HUD - Director's Cut A personalised version of Paper HUD, including remade higher-res images and some tweaks. Designed to compliment book UI mods such as Dear Diary. Customizable UI Replacer Absolutely amazing mod. Are you bored of default Skyrim UI look? Wanna have better control over your widgets? Various presets available - you can make your UI to look like UI in Dark Souls, ESO and so on. Compact HUD Moves most of the HUD elements at the bottom left corner of the screen and joins them together. Next Gen Modern UI - Interface Overhau Probably my favourite UI overhaul on pair with Dear Diary. Clear UI Modern, glassy UI replacer for SkyUI, also with a support for ultrawide resolutions. moreHUD Adds more information to the HUD about the currently targeted object, such as ingredients, weapon effects, potions, read books, v/w, enemy level etc. Note: Latest mod version makes "Display Enemy Level" mod (below) not much needed if you have this mod. moreHUD Inventory Edition Similar mod for inventory items. A Matter of Time - A HUD clock widget This mod adds a clock to the HUD showing the current time of day and more. Widget Mod A mod to show various information on HUD via widgets. TrueHUD - HUD Additions HUD additions - heavily customizable actor info bars, boss bars, player widget, recent loot log and an API for other plugins to use. Modular and customizable through MCM. Player Combat Parameters
A UI addon to display some combat related attributes.
Enemy Combat Parameters
Skse plugin that displays extra enemy information with an optional beastiary mode to unlock stats as the player kills more of the enemy type.
STB_ResistsWidget
adds a widget, that shows your resistances and speed.Description Framework ==NEW== A framework for misc items to have a description in-game. This is useful for mods that add misc items, or if you want to add more flavour to the items from the base game. This mod is a base for other mods to work on it, for instance, adding descriptions to the new quest-related or misc items addes by the mods. If you want this extra UI immersion feature, install this mod first, and then look for the list of mods that are working using it, below.
Note: For the comfort of navigation, ALL related mods are listed here, including mods that are adding description to other mods - meaning that you may have not yet have them installed (for instance, certain quest mods). So return to this subsection when you'll be finishing your mod setup, and see what extra you can grab.
Vanilla item descriptions. With these mods installed, you will have couple thousands of most different base game and DLC items (books, artifacts, contrainers, huge number of misc items etc) having immersive descriptions: Vanilla Item Descriptions ==NEW== Blurbs of Skyrim ==NEW== Mythos of Skyrim - Immersive Artifact Descriptions ==NEW== Food and Drink Have Descriptions ==NEW== Scrolls Have Descriptions ==NEW== All Keys Descriptions ==NEW== Dark Descriptions ==NEW== This one is pretty optional one as description are untrivial.
Descriptions for various mod-added items (require such mods to be installed, ofc - return to this part when you'll be finishing your mod setup): Descriptions for Various Mods ==NEW== Huge work that provides description for items from nearly 200 mods. FOMOD installer provided. Note: Choose one of the main files, not both. Difference between them is pretty much self-explanatory. Legacy of The Dragonborn - Item Descriptions ==NEW== CS' Campfire Item Descriptions ==NEW== Note: If you are/will be using Campsite mod (lite alternative to Campfire) - "Descriptions for Various Mods" above supports it.
Fonts:
Sovngarde - A Nordic Font My personal all-time favourite font. Sanguis - An Oblivion Font From author of the mod above. My another favourite. Morrowind Font Replacer Berserker - A God of War Font Thepriest - A Merlin Font Font from British fantasy-adventure drama television programme "Merlin". My #3 favourite between many of available fonts for Skyrim. Enderal Font for Skyrim SE (Dumbledor Font) Odinson - A Font Replacement Roboto - Modern Font Replacer Scribes of Skyrim - a font extension This mod adds over 100 fonts to the books, notes & journals of Skyrim and Legacy of the Dragonborn creating true variety.
Loading screens:
Pause Menu After Load Screens
Uses a custom menu to force the game to pause fully after loading screens. After receving any key input it will automatically close the pause screen and continue the game instantly.
Improved Loading Screen Colors
Removes tint, contrast and saturation altering effects that are applied to loading screens, so that loading screens appear in their original colors. Most noticeable when using image based loading screens.
Lore-Based Loading Screens
Adds 160+ new loading screens steeped in Tamrielic lore. Become deeper immersed in the Elder Scrolls mythos with tons of quotes from in-game books (from Skyrim and past Elder Scrolls titles), history, mythology, and little-known facts about the world of Tamriel.
Oblivion-like Loading Menu
Absolutely beautiful work.
TESG Loadscreen Replacer - SSE Port
Replaces the loading screens in Skyrim with 205 screenshots that have been processed to resemble paintings.
Nexus Loading Screens Reborn
Mod adds 62 new loading screens for your game made from beautiful community screenshots.
iLuvLoading
Loadscreen & main menu replacer mod (200 new HD Loading screens, mostly adult).
The Elder Scrolls Legends - Loading Screens
Adds 56 high quality and lore friendly artworks from "The Elder Scrolls: Legends" as loading screens. Works as a vanilla replacer and alongside vanilla loading screens.
Starlit Lakes Loading Screens
A collection of 100 new loading screens, accompanied by various snippets of Tamrielic and Skyrim-oriented lore.
Immersive The Elder Scrolls Lore Loading Screen
Simple Load Screens
Loading screen mod which is made as a combination of assets from 2 loading screen mods mods above.
Immersive Load Screen Message Overhaul
Grammar and context fixes for loading screen texts. Compatible with most load screen image replacers above. Edits Skyrim's load screen messages to offer full immersion and better cohesion with mods. No more irrelevant gameplay tips.
Main menu visual/audio replacers:
Main Menu Randomizer Randomizes the main menu each time Skyrim is started. Read the mod page for explanation of usage. Main Menu Design Replacer Centered, cleaned-up menu structure. Compatible with menu look replacers. Anthology Menus Lore-friendly main menu replacers from author of Sovngarde font. Main Menu Redone 14 randomize lore-friendly, animated wallpapers in the single style. Stylistic music from the vanilla game for each art and sound design. Requires Main Menu Randomizer. Cristysan profile For several adult, yet highly aesthetic main menu replacers. Proph's Main Menu Main Menu Music Replacer - Eliott Tordo's The Dragonborn Comes ESO Animated Main Menu Replacer Vintage Skyrim MainMenu Replacer Blue Steel Retro - TES Main Menu Replacer with Music Main Menu Wallpaper by Mari Clean Menu Plus Mods removes: Intro, Bethesda logo, Loading icon, Menu and loading screen fog, Add-ons, Creation Club, Mods, Credits and News buttons.
Everything else:
FileAccess Interface for Skyrim SE Scripts - FISSES This mod itself doesn't do anything, but you'll need it for many other UI mods to be able to make interfance presets, which is very useful. UIExtensions Adds various custom menus to Skyrim for modder use. Needed for some other complex mods - if mods you wanna use don't require it, you can skip it. JContainers Another "core" mod required for some other mods below.
Constellations Retextured + Constellations Retextured The DLC
Absolutely stunning rework of skills constellations appearance.
Skyrim SE Skill Interface Re-Texture This mod is a collection of many options for new textures that you can pick and choose to replace the vanilla skill interface textures. iActivate Immersive Activate removes the small icon and adjacent text that indicates what action is available when activating an object, whether it is talking to a person, opening a door, searching a chest or what have you. This mod helps improves immersion by suppressing the notion that you are playing a game. Clean Dot Crosshair with optional new Sneak Eye ==NEW== Minimalistic dot crosshair. Patches for popular HUD mods available. Oblivion Interaction Icons Adds custom icons to world interactions like "Talk", "Harvest", "Sleep", "Activate," inspired by Oblivion. Note: this mod serves literally the opposite functions of what iActivate does, so don't use both together. Also read the mod page for compatibility with some other popular UI mods. AH Hotkeys - Skyrim Hotkey Manager Superior hotkey manager mod. The objective of it is to allow anything that can be equipped to be hotkeyed, including sets of equipment, and to enable autocasting of spells and shouts. Equip Sets can contain weapons, armour, clothing, spells, shouts, powers, scrolls, potions, food, ingredients and other equip sets. Serio's Cycle Hotkeys Pretty useful and simple hotkeys mod. Inventory Interface Information Injector Inserts interesting information, including item icons, into inventory interface. Spinning Load Screens Load screen models automatically spin without a need to rotate them manually with your mouse. True Armour Rating
Changes Skyrim's displayed armour rating to a true, percentage-based one, as it was done in Oblivion.
Infinity UI
This SKSE plugin aims to put an end to incompatibilities between UI mods with an easy-to-use framework, allowing customization per UI element.
Informed Mail Delivery
Displays the names of delivered items.
Disease Pop Up Alerts
Pops up a message box alert when you contract a disease. Highly compatible in MCM.
CoMAP - Common Marker Addon Project
SKSE based framework that allows the adding of custom map/compass marker designs, editing marker discovery music and changing marker assignments without any need for an esp. Ships with a large variety of built in marker types for you to use and premade config files for various mods.
Casting Bar
Progress bar for spell casting similar to MMOs. Optional HUD variant here.
Fishing Map Markers
Adds map markers for exterior fishing sites.
Smaller Vanilla Cursors
If default size bothers you. Also make sure to checkout ElSopa profile once again - he has some other neat little UI mods.
Unread Books Glow With MCM
Simple as that. An essential addition for bookworms. Now with MCM. You can also watch a showcase of it here.
Favorite Things - Extended Favorites Menu for SkyUI
This mod improves your experience with Favorites quick menu. Faster scrolling, more entries, longer entry texts etc.
Better SkyUI Config - Smart sorting by type
Makes SkyUI sorting smarter, so you don't need to change the sorting of different views when you play. Equipped items always on top, all items/spells by type, effects by time etc
MiniMap
This mod adds a MiniMap. The terrain, doors, quests, and actors are displayed on it.
Minimalist Dialogue Interface
Small edits to the dialogue interface that removes some of the clutter. Ovewrite Better Dialogue Controls mod - this one has same features included.
Dialogue Interface ReShaped
A complete redesign of the dialogue interface. More immersion with fixed controls. Comptaible with Minimalist Dialogue Interface.
Minimal Oblivion Dialogue Menu
A minimal Oblivion dialogue menu. Clean, simple and it just works.
Convenient Dialogue UI
Quality of life improvements for the dialogue menu: Better dialogue controls, number keys to select topics, more topics displayed, configurable list and NPC name position, different skins. Ultrawide compatible.
Convenient Reading UI
Quality of life improvements for the book menu: faster pages animation, configurable text size and configurable bottom bar.
Simple Colored Map Markers
Mod recolors quest markers to orange and player markers to green to be distinctive from the others.
Simple No-Spoiler Quest Alert For Map Markers
Adds a * (and nothing else) to both ends of any map marker whose dungeon is used for a non-radiant quest. This allows you to avoid the location until on the appropriate quest, without spoiling anything else in the process.
Remove Menu Blur
Removes radial blur and depth of field in menus.
Body Slots - SkyUI
Adds a column named Slots to the Inventory, Trade, Gift and Trading Menu. Note: Install the polished version from uranreactor, look for the download link in comments.
Viewable Faction Ranks
Yup.
No More Creation Club News
Duck CC? Get this mod.
Multiple Subtitles ==NEW==
See more than one subtitles line when NPCs are talking.
Use or Take SKSE
SKSE plugin that allows you to use/equip/eat/drink OR take items.
Read ot Take SKSE
Similar mod, but for books.
Oxygen Meter 2
Adds an oxygen meter, when underwater. SKSE plugin. Improved version of the original mod.
Show NPC Disposition Relationship Rank
Show NPC's relationship rank with the player in dialog menu.
Constructible Object Custom Keyword System
If you craft a lot in your walkthrough, that's a mod for you.
Show Player In Menus
SKSE mod that rotates the camera around to face the player in menus.
Constructible Object Custom Keyword System
Improves the usability of the Constructible Object Menu with SkyUI with an extensible keyword-based category system. Note: if you're modding SE (1.5.97), make sure to overwrite mod files with this.
Complete Widescreen Fix for Vanilla and SkyUI
Widescreen monitor owners, grab this mod.
Weathered Cursor
Exactly.
I4 - SkyUI Weapons Pack
Adds 11 unique icon/types to SkyUI, includes Spear, Javelin, Pike, Halberd, Rapier, Quarterstaff, Claw, Whip, Scythe, Katana, Gun. Note: You need this mod mostly only if you'll be using weapon mods adding these weapon types. Serves close to 0 use in vanilla. Updated version of the original mod with improved compatibility. Note: not needed if you're using Dear Diary mod.
SkyUI - Better Favorite Menu
Increases the size and capacity of SkyUI's favorite menu.
SkyUI Item Card Fixes
Mod attempts to fix sometimes happening non-uniformed alignment, size, positioning and general inconsistencies on a lot the information on the item card interface.
Easy Wheelmenu II
A wheelmenu to make various skills and features from other mods available with a single key. Updated version of an original mod, with more functions.
Have you ever thought that your game is boring? That it should be more challenging, realistic, more variative and interesting? Think no more - and let's drastically imrpove Skyrim gameplay to the heights you never even imagined before! This consists of three parts - Expansion, Gameplay Features and Immersion. Expansion contains list of mods that add new lands/dungeons/quests/armors and weapons and so on. Gameplay Features part is for magic/spells/perks/combat and many other mods that affect your gameplay variety and difficulty. Immersion part contains mods that makes your playthrough more atmospheric and realistic in overall. Patches, fixes, compatibility notes and plenty of personal remarks included. Better combat, magic, perks, AI, new monsters, quests, lands, dungeons and settlements, immersion and survival realism, population, followers, armors and weapons - absolutely everything you may want and even much more, about what you haven't even thought yet :)
From casual to absolute hardcore - you can pick up best mods yourself or proceed to unique "modules" below to see carefully pre-made mod lists for different tastes and purposes, which you just need to mimic, without worrying about incompatibilities and not spending your own time picking the mods.
Quests and new lands, dungeons, new armors, weapons and artifacts, followers and player homes. Many of quest/new land mods listed here are really big and complex and can give you dozens of interesting gameplay hours not worse then official Skyrim DLCs.
Take into account that you shouldn't just install all the mods in this section. Moreover, statistics shows that one almost never finish all those dozens of quest mods installed in a single walkthrough. It's recommended to get up to 4-6 big quest/new land mods and a few smaller ones.
Now, first of all, a few mods which are not directly adding new quests but rather affect quest-related aspects of gameplay in general, QOL for questing to say so:
Makes slow walking escort NPCs run instead of walk.
The Choice is Yours
Stop quests from starting automatically. Pursue the quests you want, ignore the ones you don't. Make your choices matter. In addition, there are times when you are given a choice to refuse a quest, but the quest will automatically start regardless of your decision or you are forced to agree to do a job before hearing the details. Now quests won't start until you agree to them.
Timing is Everything
Allows you to customize the starting conditions for various quests. You can choose to delay the start of Dragonborn, Dawnguard, or Hearthfire quests, as well as other quest events. Or you can also reduce the level requirements allowing a quest to start earlier than it normally would.
Quests Are In Skyrim
Makes radiant quest no longer send you to locations outside of the province of Skyrim, limiting them with only nine vanilla holds.
At Your Own Pace
This mod is an conditional overhaul of all of Skyrim's vanilla questlines and the Dragonborn DLC, designed provide the player breaks at each stage, enhance roleplaying opportunities, and slow the game down so you can play it at your own pace. It's also providing better coverage, more features and better compatibility support than "Not So Fast" mods, basically being a modern successor to these mods.Download any of the mod files you want and enjoy. Has a standalone plugin for different questline types (main quest, colelge etc). Most of options can be configured in MCM. Patches for some other popular mods here
(including the "Quest NPCs Run" mod above), and patch for Sofia follower here .Note #1: make sure AYOP plugins are loaded after alternate start mod you're using.
Note #2: next mods are not needed if using plugins for respective questlines from this mod: College of Winterhold Entry Requirements, Thieves Guild Requirements.
Now, to the quest and new land mods themselves. Massive to medium sized mods - where each one can give you from a few up to dosens hours of walkthrough/exploration.
Project AHO A pretty new and must-play quest mod. Don't you even dare to skip it. Let me explain (you can also watch my video review of it): If I would make my "Top 10 Quest Mods" video today, Project AHO definitelly would be in the list of 5 best quest mods ever made. Everything in this mod is just amazing - breathtaking detective storyline with multiple endings, brilliant voice acting, stunningly beautiful worldspace design and a lot of puns and references at the same time. I never felt such a deep and detailed recreation of Morrowind vibes as in this mod. Try it for sure! Also, you may be interested in this small fix
, improved meshes patch, improved custom textures, new Telvanni-inspired weapons, some spell mods patches , SkyTest patch , and finally, Security Overhaul patch .
The Forgotten City
Amazing, dynamic, incredibly detailed! Beautiful, intricately detailed new city to explore. Non-linear story with several endings. Amazing orchestral soundtrack, big community of fully-voiced NPCs with backstories. Discover secrets, mysteries, and relics that are thousands of years old. Enjoy! Install this fix . Also grab the better entrance patch and optionally, delayed start patch and NPCs visual overhaul .
The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal
Amazing DLC-sized mod for all who like thief gameplay. Beautiful landscapes, amazing questline, dozens of traps and puzzles and finally an ultimate prize - Gray Cowl of Nocturnal (Mask of Gray Fox).
Additional patches/addons for it:
HD Textures Pack #1
HD Textures Pack #2
Some popular mods patches installer
Alikr Flora Overhaul
Betalille's Hammerfell Quests Bundle
A bundle of 31 new quests for the mod worldspace.
Supreme Sandstorms for The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal and Obsidian Weathers
More lore-friendly mask obtaining
By Azura!
Helgen Reborn
Awesome lore-friendly mod for rebuilding Helgen. Fully voiced questline, great story wrapping around civil war and Thalmor. New dungeons, 3 new armor sets, private tower player home. Interactive display room that transforms as you play the game. You may also wanna grab more immersive start patch , improved textures for Keepers of Hattu armor, RS Children patch, CFTO patch, lootable Sigil Stones patch or ICFH patch and Great City of Falkreath patch.
VIGILANT
Become a vigilant of Stendarr and go through an amazing dark story. This mod is just fantastic, inspired by Dark Souls series in meaning of locations design, but staying in terms of the Elder Scrolls lore at the same time! Amazing dark and creepy locations, hordes of new creatures, giant unique bosses. New unique weapons, rings, lanterns and so on. The only thing is original mod is japanese, but there are links to English and other translations. One of the best ever made for Skyrim, this quest mod is absolutely worth to try - especially now it has the english voiceover addon made by professional and semi-professional voice actors.Other patches, improvements & addons for it:
Armor retextures pack
Large patch/addon collection
Delayed start patch
Fomod installer with many different options.Greymarch retexture
Better book covers addon
Custom Skills addon (with a proper English translation)
Optional Rebalance Patches ==NEW==
VIGILANT SE - Adjustments and Addons
Magicka Clutch Nerfed
Witch Hunter Armor retexture
Armor of Arkay retexture
Extended music Coldharbour Landscape and Architecture Retexture Umaril retexture Pelinal retexture Jyggalag retexture For all these retextures, make sure to overwrite the armor retexture pack. Molag Bal Dragon Retexture Paper map for Coldharbour
GLENMORIL A WIP (already playable) quest/new land mod from VIGILANT author. Also grab the English translation patch and, optionally, custom skills addon (with a proper English translation), armor retextures and Boetiah shrine improvement . NPC appearance overhaul is also available. Darkend Amazing new land mod inspired by Dark/Demon Souls series. Atmospheric, dark location, very detailed and interesting to explore. New creepy enemies, tough bosses and powerful weapons are waiting. Optional balance patch available. Falskaar One of the most endorsed, old but still really great quest mod. Huge new land with believable level design. Dozens of gameplay hours. Interesting and voiced questline. Amazing soundtracks, new spells/shouts and more. There are also: tweaks and enhancements patches here
and here, RS Children patch and Lanters of Skyrim II patch.
Wyrmstooth
Another amazing and well-known DLC-sized mod with dozens hours of great gameplay and storyline related with dragon hunt...but it's only a beginning! An absolutely qualitative mod of medium size is awaiting for you.
Patches/addons:
Climates Of Tamriel Compability for Wyrmstooth
Dark Forest of Skyrim - Wyrmstooth
Wiseman303's Flora Fixes for Wyrmstooth
Animated ENB Light patch
Unique Weapons Reforged
Wyrmstooth - Player House Garden
Wyrmstooth Sign Fix
Wyrmstooth Thunderchild Patch
Wyrmstooth Upscaled Textures
Lanters of Skyrim II addon
Legacy of the Dragonborn
This mod is something unique. It will make you look at your playthrough from the absolute different view. This mod will inspire you to play Skyrim again and again. Mod features: Museum with 2k+ displays, over 100 exploration quests. You can save your museum progress across multiple playthroughs. Displays of visited doomstones, custom paintings, basement store, MCM and (yes!) items from different mods support. 15 new dungeons, new guild - explorers society, transmutation forge. This is only a part of full features list. Visit mod page to read more and of course try it :)
Additional patches/addons for it:
Official patches page
More fixes and tweaks
Fate Cards Re-texture
Paintings Replacer
Relic Hunter Addon
Start Legacy questline already as a Guild Master (pretty cheating to me, and skipping a joyful gameplay).
Legacy of The Dragonborn - Lighting Mod
An interior lighting mod for LOTD, fully compatible with the lighting overhauls like ELFX and LUX.
Legacy of The Dragonborn - museum dome sunlight and shadows
Improved dome meshes
Temper Replicas for Legacy of the Dragonborn
Fish Hatchery Addon for Legacy of the Dragonborn
Legacy of the Dragonborn Spelling Fixes
Legacy of the Dragonborn - Followers Patch
Upscaled armor textures
Armor of the Crusader Retexture
Overwrite the upscaled armor texture mod above.
Midwood Isle patch
Storage Control Cube
Turtle's LoTD Patch Collection
Decent amount of patches for some beautiful weapon mods.
Turtle's LoTD Ave Patches
Patches for Avebrave jewerly mods.
Dome retexture
Museum Exterior Fixes
Blended Roads Patch
Dragonmail Cuirass Enhanced
Plaques Retexture
Perk Menus
Identity Crisis Patch
ESO Skyshards patch
few other quest mod patches
JS Dragon Claws patch
replica addon
Private Armory
paladin set replacer
Pale Pass Extension
Solitude Museum - Unique Artifacts and Item Displays
This one is not actually a quest mod, but it belongs here logically as it's a great alternative to LOTD if you only want the functionality of museum itself, without questline involved around and fetch quests.
Awesome questline with a lot of secrets an puzzles, related with TES lore. Five dungeons within the main quest, complete with fleshed out boss battles, and massive, unique locations. A new town, complete with extensive characters. 7 side quests, 10 new weapons, new armors and even a new custom race. Also make sure to install a high-quality retextures pack for it. The Notice Board Great immersion mod. Radiant quest overhaul and framework. This mod adds new and alternative radiant (and side) quests. It was inspired from other good games like The Witcher which make use of notice boards in their gameplay. Also install this and this . If using the Great Town of Ivarstead, install the patch. Missives A good addition to previous mod if you liked it, or a simplier alternative. Adds a large number of localized radiant quests found at Missive Boards of varying difficulty and with varying rewards. Note: Still has some minor bugs, but mod author is actively updating the mod. There're also some retextures, patches, Great Cities patch , Dawn of Skyrim patch, CFTO patch
, bigger trigger box patch .
Meridia's Order ==NEW==
Take up the mantle of Meridia's Champion, and work with Meridia's Order to destroy a threat of Necromantic Tyranny in this new adventure! Contains hours of new quests, choice lead gameplay, fully voiced engaging characters and new locations. Will you bring back Meridia's Order from it's breaking point? A brief mod review here. VIGILANT and Great Village of Old Hroldan available here and here .
Beyond Reach
Huge area with the span of ~3 Skyrim Holds, rich detailed. New factions - Arnima, Evermore, The Witchmen, Orsinium's Sons, Dragonstar Mercenaries, The Exiles and The Afflicted. Voiced main quest with backstories as wel as 28 side quests, news spells, armors & weapons, 25 new dungeons. Don't forget to install the improved meshes, fix patch (as well as this and this tiny ones), and there are some optional patches here and RS Children patch here , CACO/Immersive Sounds/ABT here , and finally, Dark Forests of Skyrim trees addon if needed.
The Tools of Kagrenac
Go on a quest to recover the legendary Tools of Kagrenac. Encounter new allies and enemies, explore sprawling dungeons and add powerful new artifacts and spells to your arsenal in this new and fully voiced quest mod.
Moonpath to Elsweyr
Amazing DLC-sized tropical/desert mod that give player a chance to travel into the lands of Elsweyr to explore, survive and enjoy amazing playthrough. It contains dozens of unique locations, new enemies, items, custom follower and a player home. Awesome and absolutely must-play mod. There are also: Unofficial patch for it, improved khajiits look (absolutely essential, imo), a better lighting patch and this neat retexture addon , as well as hyena replacer .
Godfred's Tomb
A dying man is visited by an ancient ancestor who warns him of a rising evil within a forgotten tomb. In his last days, he puts together an expedition to investigate but they are never heard from again. You are the last hope as you can “get things done.” Descend into the darkness and discover the secrets that lie in Godfred's Tomb.
Hestra's Nest
Travel deeper into the Reach than you've ever gone before. With custom assets and lively characters, this new lands collaboration is brought to you by the students and teachers of the Arcane University.
Isle of Artaeum
A huge, vast new land and quest mod. The story is centered around the Psijic Order and their long awaited return to Tamriel. After completing the College of Winterhold you will be allowed to travel to their magical island, and eventually visit their homeland of Summerset. Mod is still in development, so may have some bugs here in there, but they are being fixed on fly. Absolutely incredible work.
Elden Root - A Tale Of Valenwood
Visit the city of Elden Root and its huge forests around.
The Second Great War
In the aftermath of the Civil War, the Aldmeri Dominion is stirring. There are rumors of Dominion soldiers close to the border of Cyrodiil and increased numbers of Thalmor agents in the Imperial City. Are you prepared to defend Skyrim once more or are you drawn to the power and promise of the Dominion? Timing Is Everytying patch here .
Skygerfall -- Daggerfall's Main Quest in TESV
Absolutely titanic work here. A new land mod where you can literally play through the entire Main Quest of TESII: Daggerfall in the TESV engine, at the end of which you can choose to continue your character's adventures in Skyrim, taking all your loot, experience and new spells with you. You can watch a brief showcase here.
Invasion of Skyrim - The Force Awakens - Grand Admiral Thrawn
Awesome quest mod related with new race arrived in Skyrim, inspired by Star Wars. 15+ armor sets, a unique "quest shell-system" that enables dozens of radiant quests pertaining to the mod to be active at a time, 26+ enchantments, 220+ NPCs, both enemy and ally. Enemies who can cripple you in a number of ways if your combat skills are poor. Enemies are tough, veterans, and skilled combatants. 2+ Worldspaces, 15+ radiant enabled locations, 2 player bases, unique classes and combat AI for every character, many scenes and interactions. Travelling merchants, nasty assassins and much more. A player ranking system among the Resistance. Over a thousand handpicked lines of dialogue that plays both in combat from enemies and followers, and much more.
Midwood Isle
Travel to beautiful Midwood Isle, a small island home to the Sonmer, filled with quests and adventures. A middle-DLC-like in size. Also take a look on some patches here . If using Wyrmstooth quest mod too, install a patch , and there's also Great City of Solitude patch . You can watch a review here.
New Vominheim
A new land called Vominheim roughly the size of Solstheim. Features dozens of new locations to discover and explore. Optionally, grab the unique rewards addon . You can also install a new mod from the same author which continues this one, from here.
Old Blood
A post-Dawnguard expansion, adding new quests that flesh out the ancient war between night and day. Inspired by Vampire: The Masquerade. Also install a fix patch. Note: you must [destroy] Dawnguard to play this mod.
SIRENROOT - Deluge of Deceit
You and a team of divers are hired to scour ruins at the bottom of Lake Honrich. A dialogue-heavy quest with puzzles, platforming, and a focus on water mechanics. But be wary of the siren’s call.
The Shadow of Meresis
This mod adds an extensive quest, leading you to various places all over Skyrim. In addition to new locations and dungeons you'll meet new NPCs with more than 200 fully voiced lines of dialogue spoken by three actors, 2-3 hours of gameplay.
Mythic Dawn Expansion
This mod adds the Mythic Dawn into Skyrim. It includes three path playthroughs known as the Path of Warrior, Shadow, and Necromage. It adds in a main quest. All quests have real-world impacts.
Inferno- Advents of Flame
Inferno- Envoys of End
Inferno- The Blood Marked
3 amazing mods inspired by Dark Souls. Interesting storylines ‘hellish’ cells, gigantic and hard bosses. You’ll remember this journey for sure!
Chanterelle - a savage world to explore
A world made to be used with survival mods. Huge, no civilization. Can be used to expand the Falkreath forest, four portals between Chanterelle and Falkreath hold. Some merchants specialized in hunt products to help you stay longer here.
Nyhus and the border of Cyrodiil
Folkstead and the Border of Hammerfell
Haafstad and the Border of High Rock
Three great mods from the same author that add new regions on borders with the named regions, filled with the level design representing them, new towns, some quests etc. There are also Alternate Start addons for these mods here, here and here respectively.
Akavir. The curse of the immortals
The players are to go to the southern part of Akavir, and explore a massive, living world. Note: It's pretty bugged atm, but it's expectable with its immense size and still a WIP state - asides of this, that's some really promising new land mod worth to try fo sho.
The Lost Wonders of Mzark
SE port of a well-known dwemer/puzzle oriented quest mod.
Val Serano ==NEW==
Purely technically, that's a follower mod in first turn, but it features such a unique, well-made and large questline, that it's placed here in the quest mods section. Val Serano is a custom male follower with over 2,000 professionally voiced lines. A pirate-themed adventure and optional romance as much as a follower mod, Val's story spans 12 new quests, includes a cast of 9 fully voice-acted supporting characters (over 300 lines), familiar faces (fully voiced with over 75 carefully spliced lines), and adds new locations while exploring themes of friendship, betrayal, love, and the cost of ambition. The adventure begins by looting the message in a bottle outside White River Watch.
Prince of Lies
Ever thought the Whispering Door quest of Mephala in vanilla Skyrim was a little underwhelming? This is a far more suitable quest for such a grand Daedra, set on a completely new island off the coast of Skyrim. It includes 30 new quests to complete, over 50 new voiced NPCs to meet and many new areas to explore.
Northpoint
A new worldspalce consisting of 4 regions with own weather system, new town, 13 new dungeons, new type of monsters and items, as well as new ingredients, books, notes, and misc items.
KAGRENFAHLZ - The Dwemer University
Skyrim breathes philosophy, but rarely expresses it. Kagrenfahlz fixes that by giving Tamriel a philosophical tradition. Dovahkin can now finally challenge his or her assumptions and become a critical thinker. This mod adds books, philosophers, quests, dungeons and a new land for you to explore.
Medium to small quest and new lands mods - where a mod will give you up from one to couple hours of walkthrough/exploration.
Carved Brink A true gem of level design - it will take your breath out. Much shorter, but incredibly original, beautiful quest mods with unique worldspace from the same authors. Get the small fix
for it. There's also imrproved assets patch , ICFH patch. You can watch my review of it too.
Clockwork
A brilliant quest mod - somewhat short, but absolutely breathtakingly-written! It was developed about 4 years, and the time spent is totally worth. Amazingly detailed cells design, detective and sometimes disturbing quests with unique creatures involved, while still being pretty lore-friendly. Thrilling journey that will you will definitely like! There's also a plantable addon , immersion patch and ENB particle lights patch and lastly, a large patch ==NEW== that provides both model/texture improvement and optional QOl additions, available as well.
Moon and Star
Short but great detective story. Interesting questline, 4 side quests, 9 voiced NPCs. New town, weapons and dungeons with new boss fights. Ingame aftermath events that take place after the main quest has been completed. Your actions have consequences! There's also small patch that fixes various minor cosmetic overlooks, better lighting patch and cleaned plugin replacer.
Ravengate - Riften Underground
Amazing and atmospheric arena/quest mod with challenging bossfights and thrilling characters backstories! Try it for sure, no matter which class you're playing.
Konahrik's Accoutrements
Make encounters with the named Dragon Priests a more challenging and rewarding experience - meet them in unique dungeon, summon them for challenge and craft unique sets of equipment. A few patches and upscaled textures are available.
Konahrik The Priest - A Quest Mod
This mod adds a quest to the game that fleshes out the lore behind the Konahrik mask and its eponymous dragon priest, as well as allowing you to upgrade the mask with a better enchantment. That's right, you get to take on the mighty Konahrik himself. Use this mod or the mod above.
Spectraverse - Magic of the Magna-Ge
Mod adds interesting questline during which you can obtain 42 new destruction spells. Questline is based on TES lore, it has 5 voiced NPCs, 6 locations and 6 quests. There's also a standalone addon which contains only its best (and sometimes rebalanced) spells, plus couple of new ones.
Unslaad
Quest mod of Half-Dragon. Not much "lore-friendly", but as usual from Vicn - with unique level design and abmbience. Also install voice addon and armor retextures for it and optionally (but recommended though), the delayed start addon.
Paarthurnax - Quest Expansion
A freshly released alternative to mods like "Paarthurnax Dilemma" and "Paarthurnax Ultimatum" to solve a one of the most plainly designed choice in the game. A new "gray" choice between "spare" or "kill" ones, around 60 new dialogue lines, and most importantly - fully voiced. Not bad, isn't it?
Jayserpa's Quest Expansions & Lil New Quests
From the author of the mod above, multiple nice little mods mostly expanding notable vanilla sidequests with more options and possibilities. Take a peek! May also grab a few patches for other mods from here.
The Sinister Seven
Ambient backstory quest involving assassins and investigation.
Boethiah for Good Guys
Complete Boethiah's quest without betraying a friend.
Namira for Good Guys
Play a trick on Namira! Complete Namira's quest "The Taste of Death" without sacrificing a priest to cannibals.
Heart of the Reach
Delve into the depths of an unground swamp in the aid of a priest in order to heal the Heart of the Reach.
Legends of Aetherium
Explore the lost Dwarven Ruins of Itharzel and hunt down lost custom Aetherium weapons and armours.
Following Mercer
So, what did Mercer do with all the stuff he took from the vault? He stored it in his various hideouts all over Skyrim, of course. Now you get to track it all down!
Cheesemod for EVERYONE
Adds over a hundred new types of cheese, hand-placed in an immersive way throughout Skyrim, and a fully voice-acted quest with Sheogorath. Some patches available.
The Unbroken Blade - Part One
Is the Dragonborn truly worthy of leading the Blades? Uncover the mysterious pasts of those who took part in Skyrim's civil war. Witness how connections are forged and broken in the white-hot heat of conflict. Note: mod currently doesn't have voice acting, only silent dialogues, so make sure to enable dialogue subtitles in game settings.
The Welkynar Knight
A quest mod to help a knight and fight against the Thalmor.
Curse of the Hound Amulet
A newcomer requests your help in aiding her to clear out some mysterious new inhabitants of a cave. In this quest discover new enemies, armors, hair, weapons, and more.
Blood of the Nord
Its a mid-sized quest mod that serves as the opening chapter in a series of plugins that explore the aftermath of Stormcloak victory, including the inevitable war with the Aldmeri Dominion. - Over 500 lines of dialogue - One new weapon - Includes several new dungeons and small worldspaces - The main quest provides roughly 2 hours of gameplay.
The Isles Esroniet
Isle of Esroniet, without new quests, but just a cool place to explore, some shops, 8 dungeons and new creatures.
Warbird's Dwemer Train Stations
A vast Dwemer train station network, providing an immersive and fast way to travel around Skyrim and Solstheim. It's practically an underground city, with merchants, inns, guards and travellers.
Revenants of the Forbidden Order
A brief non-scripted quest that leads to a fun boss battle with a nice glimpse in the history of the armor and characters.
Lagoon - Skyrim Tropical Island MOD
Beatiful tropical place - made mostly for screenshots though.
The Grand Paladin (Remake)
Journey beyond Skyrim and uncover the legacy of the ancient Dragonborn order in this small 70 to 100 minutes DLC. A remake/improvement of the same-named mod from its author.
The Final Cataclysm
From the author of previous mod. An end-game quest that will take you beyond Tamriel, and the 4th era.
Voyage to the Dreamborne Isles
Amazingly detailed new land mod. Beautiful for exploration and screenshots. Now has a questline as well.
Jurgholm
A late game multi-cell dungeon with a questline.
Shadows of the past
An underrated little gem, paying a tribute to TES IV: Oblivion.
The Secrets of Arc Cyrae
The story of a young bosmer and adds new dungeons, characters, followers, quests and a player home to the game.
Blood on the Ice Redux
Ever wanted to catch the Butcher before he kills again? Then this is your mod. If you want some AI generated VA for the new lines, also intsall this.
The DoubtSuspended Quest Pack
A pack of quests mods - each one is small, yet absolutely incredibly immersive and feels like a native part of game.
Fortune's Tradehouse
One more neat little quest mod from the same author.
The Enemy Of My Enemy
A quest/battle mods wrapping aroud the war events, with massive battles.
Betrayal at Hrothgar
Resolve the civil war once and for all during the Hrothgar peace talks.
The Haven From The Cold And Dark
Beautiful new land mod that adds a set of Green Bosmer islands that are located between the Summerset Isles and Hammerfell. Player home, many shops and vendors, bath house and inn, many NPCs and guards. Working map and LOD and many beautiful places to explore/take screenshots.
The Island
Shipwrecked off the coast of an unknown island, you must survive while searching for a way off the island and on to Skyrim. While searching for a way off you may discover an ancient Dwemer city and other ruins lost to time.
Finding Velehk Sain
This mod creates additional content surrounding the strange gauntlet in the Midden Dark, as well as the four missing Apprentices from the College of Winterhold.
It Beats For Her
A mystery tale set in Falkreath. You receive a note from a stranger who recruits you in his quest to find and stop a dangerous predator. But is it really a simple monster hunt or is there more to the story?
Merte's The McMiller Chronicles
Running a few errands for the merchant Angus McMiller results in a quest of deceit, revenge and treasure. Fully-voiced. Also recommended to install a lil patch for it.
Defy the Gardener
Gives the player another way to learn the final Word of Power of the Bend Will Shout. Storn lives, and you can also claim a new Black Book for your own.
Savos Aren's Regrets Restored - Cut Content Restoration
This mod restores cut content from the quest "The Staff of Magnus". The cut content consists of 7 scenes with Savos ghost, that will play after the visions scene of the past.
Nimwraith profile
For multiple small, short, but well-written quest mods with different topics, often inspired by other universes like The Witcher or Lovecraftian stories.
Grief
Go through the five stages of grief alongside a warrior that has fallen and woke up in the Soul Cairn. Let him travel through his last memories to recover the truth about his death.
Dark Destiny - Become a Vampire Unwillingly
A short, fully voiced quest in which the player is captured and turned into a vampire against their will.
The Wheel of Time
Based on the fantasy book series "The Wheel of Time" this mod adds the follower Aviendha and Wheel of Time related quests.
The Chain of Time
Head to the islands of the Chain and help the inhabitants figure out what happened to their land. A small new lands mod, fully voice-acted, with 11 side quests and a main quest split in 3 quests.
Anomaly - Lingering Darkness
Enter a hidden valley in search of a lost Dwemer power.
Defeat the Dragon Cult
This mod aims the expand the later half of the main quest by giving the Dragonborn a reason to fight and kill all of the Dragon Priests in Skyrim before facing Alduin at the Throat of the World.
Harthstone Isles
This small archipelago might've remained undiscovered for all time, if the East Empire Company hadn't stumbled over it when a drunk captain took a wrong turn starboard on their way to Roscrea.
The Legend of Slender Man- Daunting Scars from Childhood
For generations, the legend of Slender Man has been used in Falkreath to scare naughty children, teaching them not to disobey their parents. Stories of a tall, pale gaunt creature that kidnaps children in the forest, which are never seen again. But every legend has a grain of truth, and it can be far more macabre than a simple child-eating monster.
Runic Dawnguard - Separated Lost Relic Questline
Splits the Lost Relic radiant questline into a separate, parallel questline like Ancient Technology, making it reasonable to get all Dawnguard Rune artifacts.
Missing in Action Delayed
Missing in Action is a mess in both writing and gameplay. Mod adds an extra condition to start the quest so that at least you have to be the Dragonborn to see the scene in Whiterun's market.
Vittorias Alternate Wedding
This mod allows you to attend Vittoria's Vici wedding, after (if) you destroy the Dark Brotherhood. Some patches here .
Markarth - Help the Warrens and A Cure for Cairine
Skyrim is a harsh place, but few places are as depressing as the Warrens of Markarth. Have you ever wished you could help? Now you can!
Somebody Else's Problem - Ignore the Forsworn Conspiracy
Tell Eltrys you want nothing to do with the violent conspiracy the guard is clearly trying to suppress. You have to take care of yourself first, of course.
Plenty of Pendants - Completable Pain in the Necklace
Makes Pain in the Necklace a non-Misc quest, prevents respawn of pendants, adds map markers, and provides a small bonus for completing the questline.
Leaps of Faith - A Misc Quest
Simple mod that adds yet another fun activity for your character to do in the world: 12 epic "Leaps of Faith" across Skyrim for you to discover and complete as you play. Jumping from one of these places will play a custom jumping and falling animation and give you a small (well-earned) bonus. You can also watch a showcase of it here.
Fists of Fury - Skyrim
Brawl against some of Skyrim's fiercest fighters and become Skyrim's finest brawler. LUX patch here .
Unmasking Sybille ==NEW==
"Somethin' just ain't right about that Sybille. You know I've never seen her eat a thing? That can't be natural." The Court Wizard of Solitude, Sybille Stentor, has a secret. It's up to you to find out what it is. Investigate her deeds and decide her fate.
Here There Be Monsters - Sign of Cipactli
Travel to the southern shores of Black Marsh on the hunt for a giant monster, revered by the Argonians as a god.
Here There Be Monsters - The Call Of Cthulhu
Continue the hunt as you face terrible creatures from beyond the stars, and unravel a terrifying plot to consume Mundus and return it all to the Void.
Here There Be Monsters - Trollhunter
Go on the hunt for a man named Hans, the Trollhunter, and take up his quest to rid the world of five gigantic trolls before they awaken and destroy Skyrim!
Isobel and The Adventurers Guild
Join the Adventurer’s Guild and help the bright eye’d Isobel Sirulius as you two set out in search of ancient artifacts, piles of treasure, and explore forgotten ruins. You can also watch a showcase of it here.
There Is No Umbra - Chapter III
A quest mod where storyline is focused entirely on Daumbra: the newest incarnation of the cursed sword Umbra. Note: There's no "Chapter I/II" listed here separately as both are included in this mod.
Axis1211 profile
For multiple "thanedom/hamlets of" mods, a series of building/small settlemenets additions to various Skyrim regions. Mostly purely cosmetic, to make the regions feel more lively.
Siege at Icemoth ==NEW==
A small scale vanilla-esque new lands mod adding some new islands with new locations and dungeons in the Sea of Ghosts. As well as some unique items from The Elder Scrolls Blades.
Glamoril - The Maze of Labyrinthian
Shalidor the Archmage was famous for his exploits in the First Era. Various tales tell of him battling Dwemer legions single-handedly, building the city of Winterhold with a whispered spell, stealing the secret of life from Akatosh, or constructing Labyrinthian himself. Find the source of his power and unveil the secrets of the Glamoril.
Primeval Real Estate
In the foothills of The Throat of the World, the young Gundar has run into a bit of trouble. A wall has fallen apart in his basement revealing a vast dungeon. What lies within? Gold? Glory? Or something deep, dark, and powerful? He needs you to plunge in and unveil the truth.
Love exploring the world underground? Have new challenges, findings and ambient atmosphere? This section is for you :)
First a few simple mods that expands/improves some vanilla dungeons:
The Midden - Expanded A quality dungeon and house mod that greatly expands the College Midden, with minimal changes to existing areas. A new lore-friendly player home serves as a hub for new dungeons. 100% compatible with Immersive College of Winterhold. Get the ESM version of the mod from Misc Files (main file itself is not needed). Dwemer Network Connects all of Skyrim's dwarven ruins to Blackreach, plus a few bonus features. The doors are placed in such way that they don't break any quests or give early access to dungeons. Streamlined Bleak Falls Barrow and Golden Claw For those who are making the Nth run of the game, this mod adds a trapdoor leading to the area with the word wall, but also adds the golden claw to the same area, saving you the trouble of going back to save Arvel. Hardcore Ansilvund This mod adds many draugrs and enemy wizards, and it also improves the ghost blade. The Chill - Expanded A small expansion to The Chill. The True Face of Anise This mod makes the "Secret" Anise is guarding a little bit bigger. Shroud Hearth Barrow Reloaded A bit more interesting in terms of enemies now. Dungeons - Revisited Overhauls and enhances Skyrim's dungeons. Doubles the size of most dungeons and makes them much more interesting to visit. Currently covered dungeons are: Bleak Falls Barrow, Ustengrav, Embershard Mine, Steepfall Burrow, Halted Stream Camp, White River Watch, Hillgrund's Tomb. You can also grab them separately from author's profile.
Note: take into account that mod design is kinda similar to how dungeons were made in TES Daggerfall - dungeons affected by this mod becoming quite "maze"-like. This can be a double-edged sword for different people depending on the preference, so think if that's your kind of fruit before installing it. Blackreach - Clockwork City An incredibly scenic enhancement for the Blackreach cavern and Silent City. snozz2004 profile For several dungeon overhauls. Mostly visual, with some new enemies added. Immersive Winterhold Jail
Transforms Winterhold Jail into a full-fledged location to explore, a small dungeon prison it always had to be. Now Winterhold Jail is more than three cages standing in the middle of an ice cave.
Now, plenty of great mods that adds new dungeons of different type. First let's see some dungeon "packs" that add several or more dungeons:
Skyrim Underground One of the most amazing dungeon mods I ever played! An underground dungeon system with currently 43 large and 26 small cells. Tunnels are connecting different Skyrim cities. Also constantly updated. Amazing design, dark atmosphere, tonns of new, creepy creatures to fight and just HUGE size in total. In my opinion, this mod is absolutely must-have. Also install the textures upscale for it. Skyrim Sewers 4 Mod adds an accessible sewers system to the town of Solitude, Whiterun, Windhelm and Markarth and also small sewage tunnels to Fort Sungard and Greenwall + new custom weapons and unique books. There's an Outlaws Refugees patch available. Hammet's Dungeon Packs A great dungeon pack currently having 31 new dungeons in Skyrim and Soltheim. Dungeons in this pack are mostly oriented on high-level characters with level 40 and higher. Radiant-quest enabled. Some of dungeons contain new items and spellbooks. Optionally (but recommended), get the unique rewards
addon.
Hammet Dungeon Pack 2
The second iteration of the combined dungeon mods from the same author. Unique rewards addon here ==NEW==.
EasierRider's Dungeon Pack
Adds 7 new, lore-friendly dungeons around Skyrim, with absolutely amazing dungeon design - plus, as it's pretty small amount of dungeons in it, you can use it freely with one of the few mods above (using all is too much, imo - you don't want to stumble across a new dungeons each 5 minutes of gameplay, I believe). Also optionally (but recommended) install this .
Luftahraan Dungeon Pack
From the same author. Note: until it gets fixed in the mod itself (version >1.00) make sure to install the corrected .esp file, link on which you can find in the mod commens thread.
Immersive Dungeons
Mod adds 7 new dungeons with great design to explore and fight with atmospheric story-based exploration.
Observatory
Seven new interconnected dungeons. A group of necromancers have been investigating an ancient Dwemer compound hidden in the Jerall Mountains. What seems like a normal group of enemies to defeat turns into a long journey through the depths of Nirn.
Solstheim - The Lost Levels
Old-but-good dungeon mod for Dragonborn DLC.
Solstheim Dungeon Pack
Simple but nicely done dungeon mod. Designed especially for Solstheim. Adds 6 new dungeons to diversify your solstheim exploration experience.
The Unfinished Business - Dungeon Pack
Add several short dungeons with a short stories related to small towns of Skyrim.
The Rabbit Hole
This mod doesn't add many new dungeons in wilderness - there's only one entrance, but the dungeon itself is multi-leveled vertically. In my opinion it’s criminally underrated and absolutely must-play. Mod adds dungeon system, a ‘rabbit hole’ with 50!! levels with progressing difficulty. Also many secrets and hidden rooms to discover. Have fun!
Now, single-dungeon mods, but with a great quality - challenging bossfights, breathtaking design or sometimes even everything together:
Red Flame A vampire-themed dungeon featuring original music, Deirge Cathedral lies off of the coast of Skyrim's northern shore. A mass of stone and stained glass, the mod features two new foods for vampires, a Molag Bal blessing, a unique Gargoyle summon spell, and three weapons. Apotheosis - Lifeless Vaults Absolutely awesome mod inspired by Dark Souls. Winner of ‘boss battles’ competition. Amazingly detailed cells with 5 giant and very hard, unique-looking and fighting bosses that you’ll remember for sure for a long time. If you’re looking for new challenges - try this mod for sure! Also this mod mod is only a ‘preview’ of huge incoming ‘Apotheosis’ mod that would be released in future. Note: Mod itself is currently hidden as the "full" version of Apotheosis quest mod (which will be many times bigger than this dungeon alone, with voiced questline and more) is close to its release time - so link is being kept here so you can remember of the upcoming mod :) Demonika VERY dark. VERY creepy. Full of enemies. Dungeon mod with 12 stages. This mod may even scare someone, it’s not for everyone. But if you like such kind of creepy playthrough - try it for sure! Frostfaarn Explore a new dungeon and unlock the powers of ancient Nord sorcerers and conjure fearsome undead to fight by your side. Iomaungandr Rising Travel to the Sea of Ghosts in search of a long-lost Greybeard proving ground. Use your wits and your thu’um to unlock the secrets beneath the ice, while evading a Thalmor raiding party. Solemn Keep Chronicles - Shimmerfall Springs Bandits from all around Skyrim have been gathering and digging out the once abandoned caves of Shimmerfall Springs, causing local concern. Venture deep into the caves to find what they are seeking and stop the mysterious bandit leader who wields a dangerous power. The Dark A level 40+ challenging, lore-friendly quest and dungeon with low ambient light. Puzzles, traps and mazes that stretch the original intentions of the designers, and a couple of deadly encounters. Skjolga's Basin Detailed dungeon/quest mod centered around an expedition into the Skyrim mountains. Lakvan's Stronghold Battle your way through Lakvan's Stronghold and claim it as your own. Fully voiced dungeon experience with references to TES Travels: Shadowkey. WhateverDev profile For some short, but nicely done dungeons. Dead-Stone Barrow New Nordic dungeon just north-east of Whiterun. Path of Champion Multi-level dungeon crawl with dozens of custom objects to interact, puzzles to solve, traps to die to, loot to find, enemies to fight and quest to guide you through. Vrage's Watch Explore a new dungeon and gain the ability to control undead hordes. Yellow King A Nord ruin unearthed by the Thalmor, Hahdrim's Tomb lies in between Dragon's Bridge and Rorikstead. The resting place of a cursed king and his family, the mod features an original weapon with a unique enchantment, armor, and shield. Thieves Tumble - Cavern An odd little cavern, beautiful but dangerous. Venjhammet profile Author of Hammet's Dungeon Pack - go here for around 20 standalone dungeon mods, which are not included in the pack (most likely, the second pack will be made in the near future, but for now, they are released separately). Also optionally grab the improved rewards addon
.
The Isle Of Valefrost ==NEW==
Latest massive-sized new area and dungeon from the author above. Unique rewards addon here .
Sondenheim
An archaeological expedition sought the treasures of Sondenheim, the subterranean citadel. This being Skyrim, their adventure naturally ended in tragedy, and the survivors warn against setting foot inside the ruin. However, they weren't Dragonborn, so go ahead and pillage the tomb for fun and profit.
Windcallers Pass
Great dungeon mod. It’s less fighting, more about exploring and finding best way to go through and this is its best feature. Included in Legacy of Dragonborn, so don't install it if you have that.
Ogmunds Tomb
Old-but-great, custom small-to-medium sized dungeon with a great design and moderate difficulty. Included in Legacy of Dragonborn, so don't install it if you have that.
The Deeper Well
Enter the depths of Labyrinthian and make your way through the Well to unlock the secrets of the Old Gods. Creative dungeon design and good challenges.
Blue Kind
Rumor has it that some people in Markarth are getting wedding invitations. Who is getting married? Who are the bride and the groom? With Namira-themed dungeons, the mod features two new followers, a new weapon with unique enchantment, new blue Glass weapons and armor recipes, new alchemical ingredients, and a new spell. From the author of Red Flame.
Morthal Barrow
Taarengrav Barrow
Two nordic dungeons with a short quest. Lore-friendly design, interesting clues and details.
Pit of 100 Battles
Enter the deadliest dungeon in Skyrim, the fabled Pit of 100 Battles. Many have tried to reach the bottom, but all have failed.
Engelmanns Rest
Note: Don't use this mod if you have Legacy of the Dragonborn, it's included in it.
Caves of Morrowind
Journey to the Velothi Mountains to uncover a Dunmer smuggling operation.
Dauorrin the Draugr City
Welcome to the undead city of Dauorrin, fight its agressive inhabitants that are not only undead, but daedra as well.
The Legend of Taram Dane
Recently uncovered scrolls provide new clues into the Legend of Taram Dane. Explore a new Nordic ruin full of magic, puzzles and undead to find an ancient enchanted weapon.
Karaz Gnel Remastered - Narrated Skaven Dungeon (Warhammer Vermintide)
Don your finest armor, gather your party, and plunge into the depths of an ancient Dwarf Hold. But beware, something sinister lurks in the deeps...
Arcwind Point Dungeon
Adds a nordic dungeon at the existing exterior location of Arcwind Point.
Ruined Temple of Phynaster - Encore
A ruined cathedral rests beneath the earth, swallowed by the shifting dirt after thousands of years of time. Histories speak of glimpses of elven spirits, eternally bound to their ancient home.
Hope's Abandon
Huge dungeon filled with challenging puzzles, traps and encounters, and pretty unique approach to design in general. It has a custom boss and a follower. Level 40+ is suggested.
Vyrdwaren
A multi-level dungeon crawl across Skyrim to find an ancient sword and a new enchantment. Also adds a mine, a blacksmith and a spell seller to Rorikstead. Compatible with The Great City of Rorikstead and most of other mods that affect it.
Cave of the Forgotten
A starter dungeon with a bed and safe storage. Does not respawn.
Jornheim
Deep within the bowels of The Throat of the World, lies the ancient ruins of Jornheim.
More Skeevers in the ratway
Adds more skeevers into the ratway. This mod aims to add immersion by adding skeevers into a place that seems almost perfect for them.
For these mods, you can install as many as you want, technically, but if mod that you're installing is affecting leveled lists, be sure to rebuild your Bashed Patch. Also take into account that leveled lists have own limitations in size, so it's not a good idea to install 5 biggest weapon packs at the same time, because most likely you'll never see many of items ingame even with Bashed Patch. Choose one or two big weapon/armor packs and polish this by several smaller mods you like. It's literally impossible to list absolutely all great mod of this category here as there are hundreds or even thousands of such mods, so that's just mostly my personal list of mods that are either beautiful and lore-friendly, or I admire them for really unique look and/or great textures quality. Still, there are many mods here that improves or rebalances vanilla items or add new, but absolutely immersive ones.
Armor/clothing mods:
Before you start, if you prefer the visual presentations, you can take a look at some of the best armor mods released in general:
Armor packs - lots to several new armors/clothes in a single mod:
Immersive Armors The most famous, big and endorsed armor pack ever made. It adds hundreds of various armors, from simple to absolutely epic, while still keeping lore-friendly look. Also make sure to grab the texture improvements and the fix patch
. If you're looking for the great base of your armors variety - don't even think, install IA. You can see a brief showcase of it here. Optional realistic textures replacer is available.
Cloaks of Skyrim
The most famous cloak mod for Skyrim, and almost an essential one in my opinion. It adds almos 100 new cloaks/capes. Install an improvements addon for the mod (also has some patches). Also make sure to grab this amazing retexture pack (or this one if you want more fancy look, also don't forget to grab the update file too) for it. If using the first pack of textures, also grab this .
Winter Is Coming - Cloaks
One more big and popular cloak mod. Optional leveled lists addon available.
Divine and Daedric Cloaks
Set of cloaks with emblems of Divines and Daedric Princes.
Ennead Cloaks
Hoods and cloaks from the author of "Ennead" texture replacers.
Bandolier - Bags and Pouches
Another I'd say essential and highly immersive mod. Adds lots of pouches, bags and bandoliers to help easing your burden. A CCOR fix is available, as well as another balace patch (choose one or another).
Immersive Fur Garments
This mod adds new fur garments to the leveled lists.
Girl's Heavy Armors
Fresh and original armor mod that changes models of female vanilla heavy armors, making them much more beautiful, but still protective/lore-friendly, keeping the great balance.
Tribunal Robes and Masks
Amazing robes pack that in addition comes in all 3 armor types - clothing, light and heavy. Also have masks collection for even more epic look. Note: This mod is included in Immersive Armors, so if you're using IA, don't install it separately.
Guards Armor Replacer
Immersive, medieval-looking new armors for all holds guards. Also grab this for proper after-civil-war armors (the "minimal" version is recommended for better compatibility with other mods) and this improvement , as well as (optional, if you have it) JK's Palace of Kings patch .
Heavy Legion
Similar mod for the Legion, from the same talented author.
Common Clothes and Armors
Mod combines many vanilla and modded assets in order to create a lot of variations to regular clothing or armor sets for generic NPCs. Adds over 130 new clothes and armors to the common people of Skyrim. A few patches are also available.
Apachii Divine Elegance Store
Collection of clothing, armor and various little things, both looking civil and really epic, fitting warriors as well.
Talos Housecarl Armor Pack
Badass and 200% lore-friendly armor mod from the same author.
Zzjay's Wardrobe
Collection of various armor and clothes mashups, also has decent amount of civil-looking ones.
Bosmer Armor Pack
A lore friendly Armor pack containing 5 main sets with 29 armor pieces and 6 weapon pieces. All races and sexes supported. Improved textures here . Note: This mod is included in Immersive Armors, so if you're using IA, don't install it separately. Also install the fix patch .You may be also intersted in this a bit tweaked version of one of armors from this pack.
Black Mage Armor
Black Mage Armor is a standalone armor mod that includes Cloth, Light, and Heavy armor sets that are all craftable, enchantable, and upgradable; all sets can be used by every race, male or female.
NordWarUA's Race Armor Expansion
This mod adds new elven and orcish armors that fit the aesthetic of Skyrim. Standalone and integrated into level lists and world distribution. Textures upgrade available.
Unplayable Faction Armors
This mod adds armor and weapons for some of the unjoinable factions in Skyrim. Two files are provided, one version which distributes these sets to their respective factions and allows crafting, and a standalone version that allows crafting only. OBIS and OBIS Loot patches are available, as well as VIGILANT patch ==NEW== .
New Legion
New armor for the Imperial Legion. Textures upgrade available.
Authentic Legion
Authentic armor for the Imperial Legion in Oblivion style. USSEP and WACCF patches available.
Realistic Armor
Changes the standard armor to more realistic options, and also adds new armor.
Armor Variants Expansion
Armor Variants Expansion aims to adjust and increase variety of armors on Skyrim, by adding new armors to some vanilla and usual armor category trying to be closest to the lore friendly definition. Some patches are available here.
Fashions Of The Banditry - A bandit-focused Armor Pack
Vanilla Bandits are very lackluster in terms of armor variety. This lore friendly armor pack changes that. Compatible with OBIS (the best bandit overhaul mod below).
Forsworn Fashions - More Variety for forsworn
Forsworns have so much denominations, there is the ravager, the pillager, the looter, etc.. and all of then have the same armor, this mod changes that.
Fashions of The Huntsmen - A Leather Armor variation mod
Have you noticed that every leather armor in skyrim looks the same? Of course you did, and this mod aims to change that, by adding 9 (15 if you count all variations) new lore-friendly leather armor sets to the game, suiting other regions and races`s smithing styles. Every time you encounter someone using leather, it will be one of 15 variations.
Steel Fashions- A Steel Armor Variation mod
And now the same for the steel armors.
Armors of the Velothi Pt. I
Absolutely stunning armor pack consisting of 8 dunmer themed sets. Every set has unique, but lore-friendly look, qualitative models, and can be met in game worn by various dunmer NPCs. If playing as an argonian or khajiit, install this patch, and also take a look on some other patches here.
Armors of the Velothi Pt. II
9 more armor sets and 7 dunmer-themed weapons from the same author. Also install fixes here and here. Some patches here.
Salt Witch Garbs
New outfits and accessories for male and female. Super native, looking like a vanilla armor mashups expansion.
ARMONIZER Armors Pack
Very old but still very good mod that adds various unique-looking, but still fitting armors to the game.
NordWarUA's Race Armor Expansion
This mod adds new elven and orcish armors that fit the aesthetic of Skyrim. Used the assets from NordwarUA's armor replacer mod. Standalone and integrated into level lists and world distribution.
Liam's Armoured Mage Robes
Adds enchanted and unenchanted armoured robes for each school of magic along with necromancy robes and normal armoured robes. They can be crafted at the Tanning Rack or Blacksmith Forge.
Fortran's Shields
Shields Of Glory
Several craftable shields with glorious look. Also install two fixes here and here .
Nordic Round Guards Shields
Variety of Viking-style guardian shields. Guards will no longer walk with the same shields.
Nordic Round Shields
Adds round shields with a viking shield style.
Legendary Alpha Shields
Thematic lore-friendly craftable shields with epic models and hd textures, 30 in total. Some patches and improvements here .
Legendary Alpha Shields 2
Even more epic shields from the same author, continuation to the mod above. Also install the improvement from here.
Kratos Guardian Shield Animated
The Guardian Shield, included with different shield skins from God of War. To add the animation, also install this.
Akaviri Hats Pack
Adds several Akaviri style hats with some variations.
JS Armored Circlets
A set of 9 brand new standalone Circlets with the same attributes as their helmet counterparts. Also install the USSEP patch.
Face Masks of Skyrim
Simple as that. Compatible with beast races. Also install retexture pack.
Improved closefaced helmets
Wanna see the eyes of your character and other NPCs eyes under helmets? Get this. Note: will require lots of manual Xedit patching with a heavy mod list.
Craftable Horse Barding
Yep. Armors for your horses.
Craftable Saddles from Witcher 3
And now some quality stuff from TW3.
Separate armors mods - one or couple armors in the mod:
Zerofrost Mythical Armors and Dragon
The latest armor mod pack from Zerofrost and that has definitely the absoutely amazingly armors - for male, female and both genders. Nightingale Prime armor also has replacer version for vanilla nightingale set. Note: Zerofrost, in my personal opinion, makes the most incredibly detailed and original standalone armors. He has a vast list of badass armor mods for both male and female characters, but all of them besides this single mod are not available for SE. You can try to port them yourself.
Colovian Noble Clothes
Imperial Fine Clothes
Arcane Conjurer Robes
Three qualitative clothing mods from the same author.
Functional Bags
Add various functional bags, pouches, and other special containers.
Stormcloak Battle Armor Replacer
Much better armors for Storlcloaks and their officers/commanders.
Kynreeve Armor
Dremora-inspired, craftable set of daedric style armor, available in light and heavy variants. Also grab the upscaled textures.
Grandmaster Ursine Armour
Beautiful Witcher-inspired armor set. HDT version here.
Volkihar Knight - Vampire Armor
A lore-friendly and badass-looking set of heavy vampire armor. Three variations can be crafted, each with a unique effect that is applied once wearing all four pieces. LOTD patch available.
Hedge Mage Armor
A rugged set of magically upgradable light armor for females.
Wayfarer's Coat
Great clothing/light armor set for mages.
DreamBurrows Regal Huntsman Armor
An Assassin's Creed Inspired Mashup.
Demon Hunter Armor by Jojjo
Beautiful, epic-looking and not skimpy light armor set for females.
Sovereign's Slayer Armor
Amazingly beautiful and detailed, medieval-fantasy female fullplate armor. CBBE/Bodyslide conversion available.
Perfect Legionnaire - Imperial Armor Reforged
A deadly serious and stylish rework of the Imperial armory.
Barbarian Steel Armor
A set of craftable light armor for hardy Nord warriors and berserkers. Male and female versions, weight-slider compatible, works with any race or body type.
Armor of Yngol
This mod gives you a new uniqe set of Ancient Nord Armor as an addition to the unique Helmet of Yngol.
Nordic Ranger Outfit
Simple and immersive armor mashup.
Dragonbone Barbarian Armors
Original mashups of dragonbone armors. Female version are pretty skimpy.
DeserterX profile
Look into it if you wanna (often) [not] lore-friendly & unrealistic, but absolutely badass and attractive female armors.
Lunar Guard Armor
Adds a craftable ebony-tier heavy armor, inspired by the khajiit. If you like this armor, also recommended to get a glaive for it to finish the set and this patch if you want it to be distributed to some of Khajiit NPCs in the game.
Newermind43 profile
For plenty of various (mostly TESO inspired) armors, and some original quality sets. Author has much more amors for LE - you can port those yourself with CAO without any issues.
Inquisitor Armor
For several high-quality sets which are usually a crispy mixes of armor and clothes with HDT support.
Traveling Mage Armor
Authentic-looking battlemage clothing set.
Goampuja profile
For some skimpy, but highly detailed armors.
Gearshout profile
For many craftable sets of unique and vanilla-like looking, at the same time, armors.
Balanced Longcoats
Adds four longcoats and three sets of boots and bracers, available through crafting. MLU patch here.
Modular Clothing System
Dress yourself as you want.
Marvelous Attire - Tundra Line
Tundra Line is a huge mix & match multi-colored 15-part clothing set which adds 54 new clothing items to the game.
Sithis Armour
Beauitiful Witcher-inspired armor set with HDT physics support.
Rough Leather Armor
Rogue-styled light amor for for male and female characters. Note: Included in Legacy of the Dragonborn.
Imperial Dragonscale Armor
A quality mashup.
Stendarr Paladin Armor Set
Adds a standalone set of Stendarr Paladin armor complete with a shield and two weapons.
Archmage Khadgar's Robes
Technically not lore-friendly, but fitting in Skyrim anyway, a mage armor of astonishing quality.
League of Assassins Armor
Adds Talia al Ghul's armor from Gotham Knights.
Ashlander Apparel - CBBE BodySlide (with Physics)
Immersive clothes mashups.
SKYBLIVION - master Necromancer Robes
A pure BONEkers necro robe.
Dark Brotherhood Armor
An original, authentic Shrouded armor approach. Comes with optional recolour variants and Blade of Woe remodel. Optional 4k and 8k retexture available here .
Mavari Armor
Amazing Mavari armor by talented Zerofrost, finally ported to SE.
Knights of Thorn Armor and weapons set
Two fantastic quality armor mods and little easter egg.
Armor of Intrigue
Updated SE port of a popular light armor set.
Imperial Guard Centurion Armor
Adds a unique, lore friendly armor set based on the same version from Elder Scrolls Online. Comes in 2k and 4k versions.
Battle Mage Armour
Mod adds 4 colour variants of a battle mage armour plus a hood and circlet. Female only.
Knightranger Archer Armor
Scale Nord Armor
D-Armory
This mod adds a total of 12 new sets of armor (Male and Female). they are all mashups from vanilla and some modded assets.
Boreal Hunter Armor
Nemesis Armor Set
A unique craftable set of light armor from Enderal for males and females.
Nibenean Armors and Outfit
Colovian Leather Armor and Outfit
Couple of craftable lore-friendly armors.
Knight of Molag Bal - Remastered
SirRumple profile
For some definitely not lore-friendly, but beautiful armors or vanilla armor recolours/remodels.
Daedric Light Armor
Among the various daedra clans, there are those that are most comfortable wearing lighter armor, compared to the traditional heavy daedric equipment. Light daedric armor offers good protection, without weighing too much, and offering greater mobility to its users, being preferred among important clans such as the Skaafins and Xivkyns.
Dremora Armor
Basically, the daedric armor set from TES VI: Oblivion.
Ancient Nord Armo(u)ry EXTREME
Many different variations and sets of Ancient Nord armor.
Arcane Mage Armor
Regal Paladin Armor
Morag Tong Grandmaster Armor
Ash Pilgrim's Garments
A beautiful female Dunmer outfit.
Moon Monk's Robes
More love to Khajiits!
Toughened Traveler Outfit
Shoulderpacks
Adds 4 new shoulder-style backpacks with a realistic fur style, functionally mimics Campfire's dynamic placement for torch, woodcutters axe, pot and waterskin.
Grandmaster Wolven Armor and Swords
Adds craftable grandmaster wolven armor and swords from The Witcher 3.
Eastern Dwemer Armour
King's Guard Armor
Armor set that equals glass armor set in values\crafting, based on GOT model.
zzjay and Grace Darkling Hoods With Hairs
A set of hoods with hairs.
Dwemer Garb
Adds new dwemer-themed clothes, both enchanted and unenchanted versions, which can be found in dwemer chests and specific locations.
Letho's Pants
Male only, light armor set that adds Letho's pants, boots, and gloves.
Skyblivion - 3E Cyrodiilic Steel Armor
This mod contains the Cyrodiilic Steel Armor as re-imagined for the Skyblivion project.
Kozakowy clothes ports
Beautiful, noble, elegant female clothing.
GolinskiRH profile
Some standalone, nice quality, vanilla-like armors.
Reapress
Artwork-inspired, reaper-like armor and weapon. Get the "Gear Only" version and also install the update file. It's also recommended to install this patch that will make the armor set modular (you can equip armor/helmet etc separately to mix with other armor pieces if needed).
Redguard Noble Armor
Dusk Hunter Armor
Lore-friendly mashup designed for vampire hunters and spellswords, being an specialized branch of the Dawnguard trained by monster hunters, or witchers.
Pulcharmsolis profile
The author of "Armors of the Velothi" also releases amazing standalone armor sets - take a peek at their profile.
The Hinterland Ranger
Unisex leather & cloth garments for lightweight adventurers with HDT physics.
Dremora Robes- Mihail Armors and Clothes
The robes traditionally worn by the Dremora are heavy, terrifying looking, and at first glance cumbersome and uncomfortable, with their sharp edges and thick metal plates.
Elder Shield
Also look for an Ancient Dwemer Metal patch here.
Ryder's Dragonfly Robes
Mage set, CBBE compatible.
Daedric Assassin Armor
Ported to SE. Standalone and craftable.
Illusive Infiltrator Armor ==NEW==
A unisex low-fantasy equipment set to suit stealthy adventurers while staying prepared for a fight.
Dark Witch Armor ==NEW==
Ashtoreth Duskrogue Armor ==NEW==
HD Falmer Elven Chainmail Retexture
Banderger
For a few iconic Witcher armor ports.
Raven witch armor
Raven Witch armor by Zerofrost, ported to SE.
Magnus Robe
Adds Magnus robe, light armor or clothing option. Male only with weight slider, beast race support.
Glowing ebony armor by Mari
Fabulous luminous armor in six color options.
Marvelous Attire - Tawenja Armor
New adventurer outfit including clothing, armor and a backpack.
Cyrodiilic Thief Armor
Adds two new armor sets that are meant to belong to Cyrodiilic branch of the Thieves Guild.
Chevaleresse II Armor
Imperial Centurion Battle Dress
Somewhat skimpy yet pretty lore-friendly armor at the same time.
Blood Operative Armor - Male and Female Armor
A set of male and female light armor used by House Dimir's Vampire Assassins.
Toxin Doctor Outfit- Mihail Armors and Clothes
Any plagues?
Stalhrim Paladin Armor
Full set of high quality stalhrim steel plate armor
Contractor Armor
Yet another old-but-masterpiece from Zerofrost ported over to SE.
Asura's Guard
A highly customizable set of female armor.
Coldharbour Executioner Armor
A female armor mod based on the daedric realm of Coldharbour.
Akaviri Dragonguard Armor
Adds a new set of armor to Sky Haven Temple.
Wolfcry Armor - Standalone and Vilja Armor replacer
Lore-friendly armor, improved version of the armor from Vilja follower mod.
Dread Father Armor
Eclipse Mage Outfit
Optional rebalance tweaks here.
Wynter's Ranger Armor
Onyx Knight Armor
Armor of Psychosis
Dragon Rider Armor
Dark Brotherhood Mail - Standalone
Ever wished you had a Dark Brotherhood armor that didn't look like a swimsuit? Here you go.
yurica chevaleresse Armor
Female knight armor.
Vampire Lord Dragon Priest Armour
Mashup from these two.
Telvanni Spellsword Armor
A set of Telvanni-themed spellsword armor.
Tribal Sorceress Outfit Mashup
Lowered Hoods
Variants of the vanilla hoods that are lowered (not over your head). Male and Female. Uses slot 45. Some patches for popular mods available.
Leveled Lists Vigilants of Stendarr - Paladin Armor
Adds the Paladin Armor by NordWarUA into the Vigilants of Stendarr leveled lists. It also adds some vanilla items to it making the Vigilants of Stendarr appear to actually be able fighting some Daedra.
Nicos Raven Shield
Finally A Steel Plate Shield
Frostkeeper
Drow Ranger Armor
Northgirl Armor
Original female armor on the edge between beauty and lore-friendliness.
Thalmor Armory
Adds new Thalmor equipment set in 3 variations.
Weapon mods:
Before you start, if you prefer the visual presentations, you can take a look at some of the best mods released in 2018 and in general:
First of all, let's look on weapon packs - mods that contain many or at least several weapons inside them:
Lore Weapon Expansion My personal favourite between all big weapon packs. Variative but not too big and with qualitative textures for each weapons without exceptions. And what is good, it's really lore-friendly. InsanitySorrow Weapons Pack
A compilation of standalone mods (that are not included in previous pack) from the same author, ported from LE. I humbly recommend installing this pack as well - it includes many unique weapons for warriors, thieves and archers, which are still really, really immersive.
Royal Armory - New Artifacts
A must-have mod. Adds special weapons to the most important characters in Skyrim with unique effects and appearance. This may sound very simple, but it really changes the way you will look on many quests and NPCs - because now they will be a more than worthy targets. Make sure to install amazing mesh/texture improvement addon for it. Optional tweaks patch available, as well as similar patch, but with weapons effects boost (use one or another).
Heavy Armory - New Weapons
One of my favourite wepon packs as well. This mod adds nearly 100 new weapons to Skyrim. You will find all new Halberds, Spears, Glaives, Shortswords, Quarter staves, Mauls, Hatchets and Clubs. Optional addon for enchanted weapons distribution is available, as well as version of the mod with new DAR-based animations from Animated Armoury mod here .
Legendary Skyrim Crossbows and Bows
Amazing mod that adds dozens of new crossbows, some bows and unique arrows/bolts to the game. Crossbows have very qualitative models.
Liam's Staves of Skyrim
45 new staves!
Scoped Bows
Simple but brilliant mod that adds scopes to all vanilla bows making them look much more epic. Some compatibility patches are available, as well as VR patch.
BillyRo Ultimate Swords Anthology
The massive pack containing dozens of amazing standalone weapons by talented Billyro, ported from Skyrim LE.
Billyro Compendium
Another huge pack of most noticeable weapons made by Billyro.
JaySuS Swords
Old but good weapon pack that adds 53 new craftable weapons to the game.
Weapons of the Third Era
Old-but-good mod. Morrowind-themed weapons pack with a lot of new, non-replacement weapons. Also grab WACCF patch, and later patch for Animated Armoury, if you'll be using it.
Skyrim Weapons Expansion
Over 100 balanced weapons into the vanilla game through crafting and leveled lists.
Weapons collection 1
Weapons Collection 2
Weapons Collection 3
30 (in total for all 3 mods) new, HQ weapons from same author.
Zikoru Swords Collection
Small pack of weapons from another talented weapon mods author, pretty similar to Billyro's style in general.
Katana Crafting
This Mod allows crafting Katana, Dai-Katana, Wakizashi and Tanto from materials; Steel, Dwarven, Orcish, Elven, Nordic, Ebony, Glass, Stalhrim, Dragonbone and Daedric. DSR patch and MLU patch are available. Note: if you're modding AE and don't have the CC "DLCs", also install this patch (overwrite mod's plugin).
Isilmeriel LOTR Weapons Collection
Old but good weapon pack for LOTR fans. Also install the fix patch needed to correct some errors made during mod porting from Skyrim LE.
The Witcher 3 Weaponry
Simple as that. Great mod for Witcher series fans and fitting Skyrim world.
Twinblades of Skyrim
A mod that adds 16 different twinblade's to Skyrim special edition that can be obtained in game via crafting or enemies looting. For these weapons to "shine" in combat fully, it's recommended to install an animation mod that will add unique animations just for them. Worry not, you'll see this mod further on, in the Animations section. Damage balancing patch and MLU patch available.
Dwemer Tonal Energy - Twinblades
Use ancient tonal magic to construct twinblade weapons formed of energy. Imbue the blades with power based on your knowledge of enchanting and the schools of magic.
Dwemer Tonal Energy - Glaives
A mod from the same author, now with glaives.
Dwemer Tonal Weaponry - Swords
And ofc, similar styled swords.
PrivateEye's "New Armory" mods
New Lunar, Ash Spawn, Dragon Cult weapons and others - often with unique enchantements.
Noahlong0313 profile
For several lore-friendly weapons with high-quality models.
Spear of Skyrim
Multipe custom-designed spears. To also get a unique animations, install this (but take into account it requires MCO, further in the guide).
Glaive Danger
Adds 12 glaives to the game, featuring vanilla aesthetics. Animated Armoury patch available.
Project Minoan - Weapons
Bronze age inspired weapons.
Kemper's Weapon Collection
Kemper's Weapon Collection II
41 new, high-fantasy weapons in total.
JS Unique Utopia Standalone - Daggers
Lazy Weapon Pack
And one more from Billyro. Two, actually.
Pixie's Delight (Crystal Weapons)
Craftable crystal-like daggers, swords and greatswords.
Tera Weapons with Leveled List
Definitely not lore-friendly, MMO-like weapons, but may be interesting for some players.
Kthonia's Unique Weapon Pack - Dragonborn Weapons
Adds three unique-looking dragonbone weapons with unique effects into the game world, found in Solstheim. Also install the fix.
Reforging - To the Masses (Weapons Expansion)
A huge weapon pack which adds around 300 vanilla-friendly weapons to the game. Some patches are available here , here and here .
Artifact of Might ==NEW==
Get access to 8 new world placed, lore-friendly weapons for you to play with.
Bowgasm
A collection of 14 beautiful, realistic bows. Optionally, you can use a different version of the plugin to have these bows replace vanilla bows. You can a see a showcase of it here.
Unique Bows Collection
This mod adds 10 new unique bows to the game. All bows are artifacts, placed in various locations all over the Skyrim with some lore behind each. Also make sure to install the balance patch (without it, some bows will be just too overpowered).
Rafael's Weapon Pack
A collection of mostly definitely not lore-friendly, but absolutely badass, epic weapons inspired by some other games.
Daedric Light Weapons
Many daedra prefer to use light daedric armor instead of the traditional heavy variants, likewise many of them also prefer to use lighter and faster weapons, instead of the traditional elaborate heavy armament. This weapon set may not be as robust or powerful as other Oblivion sets, but its slimmer and lighter design allows for faster strikes.
Horker Weapon Pack
For muh immers...horkersion?
Skyforge Weapons
Qualitative mod for Skyforge weapons.
Nice! Now standalone weapon mods that add a single weapon, or a couple of them:
Artifacts - The Ice Blade of the Monarch Pack of 3 absolutely beautiful weapons (sword, dagger and staff) with a lore-friendly quest to obtain them. Eimar's Edge
Beautiful steel sword with silver carvings and glowing.
The Huntsman
Unique-looking UPGRADABLE bow.
Lorkhan Moonlight Greatsword Reborn
A legendary sword from Souls series in several unique variants, with custom meshes and visual effects. I also strongly recommend you to check out this author's other weapon mods, mostly inspired by DS as well.
Billyro profile
For incredibly qualitative weapons mods if you want them standalone out of the pack linked above, or if you just wanna endorse his original works ;) Note that he has vastly less mods officially for SE than for LE - most you need to port yourself if you want to have them standalone.
Valkyrja - Viking sword
Lore-friendly, authentic-lookin, highly-detailed original sword.
Sword of Ancient Tongues
Beautiful runed sword in 12 variants.
Johnskyrim profile
For absolutely breathtaking, insane in a good meaning, stunning weapons inspired by other games like WOW or Kingdom Come.
ImsumDave profile
For several beautiful, half realistic, half fantasy weapons.
Crazylion profile
For original-looking standalone weapons and unique variations for some vanilla weapons.
FunkyGandalfCat profile
For badass DS-inspired weapons.
Scythe42 profile
For some ported weapon mods of FavouriteSoul from Skyrim LE.
Tartaross profile
For a small but qualitative weapon pack and several original weapon mods.
Hilli1 profile
For many other Skyrim LE weapon mods ported to SE.
tamu75 Witcher's Steel Sword
Beautiful silver sword from Witcher, still fitting Skyrim greatly too.
Occiglacies - Ancient Falmer Blade
An HD Ancient Falmer blade for your travels.
The Munich
It's a hand and a half sword (aLonger...longsword), based on the design from Albion Swords.
The Devil's Tooth
A longsword, based on the design from the Netflix show Cursed.
Lux and Noctis Katanas
Rory's Halberd
Blades of Chaos
Adds "Blades of Chaos" based on the blades from the God of War game which use the whip weapon type (and ofc, animations) from Animated Armoury.
Leviathan Axe - Dwemer Artifacts
Leviathan Axe as seen in God of War, features incredibly quality model and texture, all stages of upgrading, pommels with different effects and much more! You can a see a showcase of it here.
Leviathan Axe ==NEW==
Alternative approach.
Soul Reaver Spectral Swords
Epic weapons from the Legacy of Kain series in different colors.
Staff of Bloodstained Chalice
Add a new vampire/gothic themed staff with unique enchantment.
Fudou Myouou Katana and Tachi
Serpent Dagger
Beautiful glowing dagger with multiple color options and additional option for Blade of Woe replacer.
Magic Blade
A set of magic blades from the comic Scissor Seven.
Zireael - Ciri's High Quality Sword
Fly, Swallow.
Alduwuin profile
For a few unique-looking, high-quality weapons.
Nicoroshi profile
Once widely well-known weapon mods author back in 2012-2013, he is active again and makes lots of new weapon mods with improved quality.
Kanjs profile
For various daedric-style (but not only) weapon mods, as well as some incredibly improved models and textures for various small clutter and furniture objects not touched by other mods, or retextured, but without such a great model improvement.
Vanguard's Claymore
A very large 2h sword with unique impacts.
Nicos Twinblades
Three new twinblades. For these weapons to "shine" in combat fully, it's recommended to install an animation mod that will add unique animations just for them. Worry not, you'll see this mod further on, in the Animations section. One-handed version available here .
Blades of Ice
Adds two frozen swords to your game. One carved from pure stalhrim and another fusing both steel and ice together.
The Shattered Blade of Baziar
A powerful sword, broken, cursed to share its shattered burden with every wielder. Find both pieces and repair the blade to end the curse and gain a boon instead. One handed and two handed options available.
Gro-Kayra - Rage of the Ashen Forge
Nagamaki Gaijin
An euro-asian inspired katana craftable in two designs each with 11 color options.
Bluthund - A Longsword
Bluthund is a beaten and battered longsword, that's been lost in the north of Skyrim. Find it, claim it and reforge its destiny!
Silver Bowblade
A new bow with unique sheated/unsheated animation. You can see a quick showcase here.
Dragon Tamer's Blade - Hiccup's Fire Sword
The Lost Roscrean Blade
A unique ornate Nordic style late game sword.
The Soul Harvester
Adds a 2h Scythe based on the weapon from Diablo II.
Dawnbreaker Requiem
Re-imagining of the classic Dawnbreaker. Standalone mod.
Dragonbone Crossbow
Adds a dragonbone crossbow and a corresponding bolt.
Mehrune's Razor Reborn
Adds a longsword and dagger modeled after the Mehrune's Razor.
Incarnate95 profile
For several qualitative weapons, mostly inspired by the Two Worlds game.
A Cursed Sword Experience
Highly configurable mod with three unique weapons designed with their own playstyles. Satiate your Cursed Sword's constant hunger for the promise of power, at the expense of your sanity and morality. Features new spells, abilities, weapons, and an MCM menu to tailor your experience.
Animated Dwemer Core Sword
Violet Bloody Blades
Reforged 3 new weapons from Elden Ring. Original Twinblade held by the Violet Bloody Finger, Eleonora.
Supapakku NINJA PACK
Mod adds 3 new ninja-inspired weapons to the game - a ninjato, a kama and a kunai.
Sacred Relic Sword
A legendary greatsword from Elden Ring.
Daedric Dagger from Morrowind - STANDALONE
Morrowind-inspired look for daedric dagger - but now, as a standalone weapon. ENB particle light patch here.
Akaviri Warblade
Riilungolz - HDT-SMP and Animated Staff
Ported from LE.
Lordsworn's Greatsword ==NEW==
Muramasa Katana WK 27
Fang of Paarthurnax (Draconic Artifact)
Fang of Paarthurnax craftable as a sword, dagger, and greatsword with a bone and inlaid metal design. Plus options for dragon bone and forsworn replacers.
Castlevania - Vampire Killer
Adds the Vampire Killer whip from the Castlevania franchise, as well as the five original Sub-Weapons for you to track down across Skyrim in order to restore the whip to its full power.
Dragon Slayer - Berserk
Mod adds the Dragon Slayer from Berserk to Skyrim Special Edition. 4K Textures.
Ayleid Crystal Saber
An Ayleid crystal sword obtained through a unique heist.
Valiant Nord Bow
Custom nordic bow.
Sword of the First Ember
Beautiful semi-fantasy sword.
CROSS_Crucible
Absolutely not lore-friendly, but just a badass weapon from DOOM.
Mjollnir
If you are a fan.
Dwarven Aetherial Bow
Unique-looking aetherial bow. Also make sure to install a fix for it.
Both weapons and armors, new artifacts or vanilla artifacts improvements:
Reliquary of Myth - Artifact Overhaul Incredible and still (2 years after release) constantly updated artifacts overhaul. The most all-covering and creative mod of such kind. Reliquary puts the soul in each artifact, making most of them actually unique, and great not for roleplay only, but to greatly spice up character builds. Lastly, it comes with a nifty FOMOD installer which has a lot of patches for popular mods (you can merge
all of them safely, just don't merge the mod itself). Since it was released, it's my personal pick and I strongly recommend to at least try it. Black Mage Armor mod patch here . You can also see my review of it here.
True Artifacts of Skyrim
Pretty underrated mod (obviously not compatible with previous one, choose one or another) with own approach, which covers a hundred of artifacts.
Nice, let's continue to smaller mods which are mostly adding brand new artifacts and item sets!
Artifacts of the Court Wizards Adds a unique artifact with a unique enchantment to most court wizards in Skyrim! Thane Weapons Reborn Mod focusing on thane rewards only, making them really unique. Unique Thane Weapons One more great alternative to make thane weapons not only have unique effects, but also look unique. Equippable Tomes - Belt-Worn Books
Equippable Tomes is a mod that adds tomes and books that can be worn on your character's belt in order to increase the power of their spells. Unenchanted versions are included as well if you just want to wear books that don't affect spell power or enchant your own. Rebalance patch here.
The Gifts of Akatosh
One of my most favourite weapon and armor packs. Epic, detailed and lore-friendly.
Noldor Content Pack
Another great LOTR-inspired armor/weapon pack. That's a version with a small fix, so please make sure to endorse the original mod (you don't need it though).
DCR - King Crusader Mega Pack
Badass, grim, beautiful pack of armor (somewhat inspired by nazguls from LOTR to me), swords and a unique spell.
Dragon Carved Armor Set
Heavy armor set + weapons, looking epic and pretty much immersive. Some recolors are available. Also install this patch if you're experiencing floating armor, but before installing, rename the "Mesh" folder to "Meshes".
Artifacts - The Breton Paladin
Beautiful paladin armor set, including an extra helmet, sword, mace, warhammer and ring.
Berserker Armor - An Immersive Berserk-inspired Armor
An unnoticed masterpiece. Armor and weapon set, with a large package if passive and active features/abilities, MCM to configure it, buff and penalties for using the armor, etc. Even if you're not a Berserk fan yourself, check it out.
Elmlock Armor and Blade ==NEW==
Improved textures and color variations patch here.
Legacy of Ysgramor ==NEW==
This mod changes the standard armor and weapons for the Companions guild, and replaces Ysgramor's axe and shield models. Standalone version available as well.
Resplendent Armor and Greatsword
One of my favourite armor/weapon mods ever made. Heavily-inspired by Arthorias from DS series.
Imperial Dragonknight Armory
Stormcloak Hero Armory
A must-have mods for any fan of named factions. Incredible quality! For the second one, grab a fix.
Lagrie profile
For two dozens of varios visually simple, but immersive, lore-friendly and beautiful armor and clothing sets (and usually, fitting weapon too) for all character archtypes, mostly made as vanilla armors mashups.
Silverthorn Weaponry
A pack of 34 high-quality silver weapons (and some shields) made by Billyro.
Project Veil of Death_Dreaded Relics Weapons and armor set
Adds a unique armor with customization options and unique weapons.
Nordic Crusader Armour
Adds the Nordic Crusader Armour and Greatsword for crafting. Requires the Steel Smithing Perk.
Vikings Weapons and Armor
Viking-inspired set of armor & shields, as well as weapons - sword, dagger, axes and a bow.
Forsworn Envoy and Staff of Hag's Wrath Set
Adds a new Forsworn themed set for female characters with a powerful Destruction Staff replacing the Staff of Hag's Wrath at Darklight Tower.
Winged Hussar Armor and Weapons
A new set of craftable armor and weapons for male and female characters.
Dragon and Tiger Emperor Armor
Adds standalone ancient chinese traditional armor set and weapons to skyrim.
Liam's Rings of Skyrim
Adds more enchanted craftable rings to the game.
The Akaviri Collection
Adds rare Akaviri weapons. Sai, naginata, dai katana and a rare trinket some may find familiar.
Away - Come Away
A new quest that will lead you across Skyrim to claim a light, female-only set of armor as well as a greatsword and longbow - each with its own unique but subtle effect.
Arch-Knight Judicator Armor and Greatsword
High quality knight armor and sword.
Daedric Kynval Armor And Sword
Adds a standalone Daedric Armor & Sword to make you look like a Royal Dremora. Replacer version available.
Oblivion Artifact Pack
Adds various unique weapons and armor pieces from The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion into Skyrim. Such as the Escutcheon of Chorrol, The Redwave, Blackwater Blade, Draconian Madstone and many more.
Aetherium Armor and Weapons Compilation
Badass and simply a must-have mod for any dwemer fan. Also don't forget to install this absolutely incredible model/textures improvement for it.
Artifacts - The Tournament of the ten Bloods
Goldbrand/Eltonbrand, Boethiah's Walking Staff, Fearstruck, Lyrisius Dagger and Shashev's Ring. High-res textures and lore-friendly quest to obtain them. Also recommended to install this lil balance patch .
Elven Gilded complete set
Expands the Elven Gilded Cuirass from vanilla into a full weapon and armor set.
Daedric Armor and Weapon Improvement
Epic-looking, glowing daedric armors and weapons variations. Vanilla replacer version is also available.
Vikings Weaponry
Highly-immersive set of nordic weapons and shields in just insane quality. I also highly recommend to browse the profile of this author - he has a lot of other mods (mostly new weapons) - unlike this mod, most of other his weapons are not lore-friendly and mostly inspired by Warcraft, but their quality is absolutely amazing.
Viridian Knight Armor
Armors, weapons, and quest for male and female players.
Onyx Lancer Armor
From the same author.
Volkihar Gardener Armor and Sword
Unique, evil-looking heavy armor set and weapon.
ChakraSSE
Author of the armor mod above, they also have plenty of other unusual, but qualitative armor sets - take a peek.
Arsenal of Twisted Faith
Indoril Armor - My version
Weapons included as well.
Somewhat Historically Accurate Weapons and Viking Gear
A port of an LE mod - the name pretty much stands for it :) Adds new weapons (mostly) and some armors.
Fulcimentum - More Staves and Wands of Skyrim
Adds 9 wands and 9 staves, each with a shield of the same shape. Check out mod Files tab for some popular mods patches. Patch for Praedy's staves can be grabbed from installer here , and patch for JK's Dragonsreach is
Hammerfell Armory
A set of Redguard-inspired weapons and shields.
New Armory Series - Imperial Silver Weapons and Armour
A set of Imperial armors and weapons from the author of Royal Armoury.
Vigilant Arsenal
A vigililant themed set of heavy armor and several weapons.
Staff of Sheogorath (Fully Voiced)
Yep. It's all mad god shining glory.
Everlight - Torches of Skyrim
10 Craftable Magic Torches with unique enchantments, light colors and sounds. Get also a custom spell to summon a Cold flame Atronach, or summon it with one of these torches.
Elemental Vision of Skyrim
Adds powerful elemental visions as wearable accessory into Skyrim. Each element has unique enchantment effect. If using ENB, also install this .
Simple Wearable Lanterns
Adds three brand new, immersive wearable lanterns. Optionally, install this balance patch.
RonnieMagnum profile
For both various qualitative weapons and armors, or sets.
Nordic Wanderer Equipment
Immersive armor and weapon pack from Billyro.
Dwemer Fairies ENB Particles
9 Dwemer Colored Glow Fairies with Standalone lights ENB particles, Animated, Equippable and Enchantable with Custom Sound Effects.
RN Vanilla Accessories
10 hair accessories. 5 earrings +8 one earring. 4 bouquets of flowers.
Jewelry Collection
A Jewelry Mod that comes with over 35 new and unique pieces of equipment between various rings and amulets and torcs. Also install the hotfix file.
Stoneheart Jewelry SMP
Various stylish earrings with HDT support.
iD - DovahBling Bracelets
Set of shiny bracelets.
HORNY
Adds 35 new wearable horns.
Elden Lantern ==NEW==
The wearable Elden Ring Lantern in different color. Optimization and improvement patches here.
Skyrim modding stage is literally swarmed by follower mods, the vastl majority of which are really dull and simply briefly imported racemenu presets with nothing more. That's why I decided I can't skip this part and show you some really worthy follower mods - interesting, funny, badass, with own temper and/or unique look, background stories and personal questlines and so on. Using mods from this section you will be sure your companions are not only "I'm sworn to carry your burdens".
First of all, a few great mods to give you immensely better control over your followers in all aspects and make your life with followers much more comfortable"
EFF - Extensible Follower Framework Grab this mod if you will ever play with followers. It's amazing and complex mod that adds many features to scan, control, equip your followers, give them much more commands, teleport to you if they are stuck or lost and much, much more. With a cool UI in addition! Note: Take into account that some complex follower mods, like INIGO, for example, are not compatible with EFF. That doesn't mean your game will crash or something. They just mostly have own customized controls system, so just use it and don't try to manage them with EFF, otherwise they may act weird. Also install this tiny fix, this one too, and optionally, enhanced wheelmenu addon .
Nether's Follower Framework
A great alternative to previous mod, without some features of it, but with some of own unique features. Improved Traps patch available.
My Home is Your Home (MHiYH 2plus)
This mod will be useful as well if you like to play with many followers or just to have many of them in overall and choose different companions from time to time.
Follower Death and Injury Chance - Followers Can Die
This mod allows for followers to die and get injuries resulting from battles. The chances are quite low, but it will keep the game fresh and allow for more interesting experiences and narratives when it happens. Quite an essential mod for those who prefer balanced game with realism touch.
Stealth Kills for Followers - Standalone
Very light-weight mod that allows your followers also be able to kill enemies silently.
I'm Talkin' Here
Prevents followers from making idle chatter during player dialogue. Has patches for many popular mod-added followers. Install this mod after you'll install your new followers themselves, so the installer can detect their plugins and install the patches.
Follower Distance Tweaks
Various tweaks to the values in which followers keep their distance from the player. Also has patches for many popular follower mods.
Sleep for me now
A simple standalone mod that makes followers sleep.
Show Follower Carry Weight
Show follower's current carry weight in trading menu.
Press E to Heal Followers
Heal downed companions by simply activating them (provided you have a healing potion with you) and they will react with voiced lines.
Dynamic Mercenary Fees
Simple mod that makes mercenaries ask for more or less money for their services depending on their level, your and their race and how good you are at bartering (your speech skill).
No More Ugly Combat Idles for Followers
Do you find annoying how your followers start acting like apes after unsheathing their weapons? They check their weapons, look around and stretches all the time, even if you replace their idle animation with a custom one. Now they won't play those animations at all.
Swiftly Order Squad - Follower Commands UI
Swiftly give orders to your entire squad of followers, telling them all to wait, teleport to you or access their inventories with a single quick access custom menu.
Quick Mass Follower Commands Hotkey
Similar, more simple mod.
Party Combat Parameters
Skse plugin that adds hud widgets to display player, summons, follower, allies, follower summons, and optionally enemy information/avs. Also Includes a status page to view all tracked actors stats simultaneously on the same screen and options to display actor portraits. Fully customizable.
Call Follower
Mod that adds War Horns to general stores and loot containers around the world. Blowing the horn calls your current follower to you, even if they have been told to wait somewhere else. Includes an MCM that allows you to select whether your human or animal follower responds to the call, or both. Note: This mod should be used only [only] if you're [not] using follower control mods like EFF/NFF (for some reasons).
I'm Glad You're Here - a follower and spouse appreciation mod
Allows the player to show their appreciation to their followers , spouse and adopted kids by dialogue and a hug animation. Voiced with vanilla assets.
Intuitive Dragon Ride Control
Use intuitive ride commands to fully control your flights with any vanilla dragon, and with existing dragon follower mods.
Now let's get to the followers themselves - the most interesting, funny, beautiful, charismatic and badass companions you can have:
INIGO The one brave khajiit to rule them all. The one companion to pun them all. In my opinion, Inigo, while having not the numerically biggest amount of endorsements, is the best follower mod ever made. If you never liked to play with followers and even if you hate followes/follower mods in principle, Inigo will change that once and forever after just a couple of hours played together with him. Or maybe even after a few minutes.Inigo is a fully voiced khajiit adventuring companion with over seven thousand lines of unique dialogue - much of it about you. He doesn't just have some "on-call phrase" - he reacts on everything and everyone around you. He will comment, he will sing, he will scream, he will joke and he will troll. Both you and your followers as well. Inigo is one of those mods that make you give a complete new look on the game. You may be also interested in optional visual changes for him here
or here , as well as Mr. Dragonfly ENB particle light patch, improved models/textures for all unique Inigo items and a configurable key to whistle Inigo to ya.
Sofia - The Funny Fully Voiced Follower
"The infamous Sofia needs little introduction as she causes trouble across Skyrim". And that's all about her. The very original, funny and sarcastic follower voiced by professional voice actress.Sofia is quite an unusual follower. She is tough, witty and just a little bit boastful. She has a strong fondness for the player character but her deliberate attempts to disguise the fact just leads to very awkward conversations especially as she usually says exactly what she thinks. Sofia is a tease and loves to wind people up which doesn’t make her very popular with people. Her rebellious spirit and careless attitude often gets her in trouble. Not to mention her constant inappropriate comments which easily offend or embarrass people. Also take a look at customizer addon for her and a visual overhaul (or also this one or this one). You may also love this
lil addon.
Lucien - Fully Voiced Follower
Lucien is a fully voiced Imperial follower with over 2500 lines of immersive, lore-friendly dialogue. Though he arrives in Skyrim as a cowardly scholar, he'll gradually gain strength and confidence by your side until he grows into a hero in his own right. It's made on a level of dedication and self-awareness close to INIGO, and plays greatly together with INIGO installed. You can see a showcase of it here. You may also be interested in some handsome replacers for him here or here , and this lil fix patch.
Vilja in Skyrim
One of the most endorsed (well deserved) follower mods as well. Greatly done from all aspects, Vilja doesn't only have her own agenda - she also has her hopes and visions, her thoughts and opinions, and a background story that she will share with you over time. There's also a customizer for her
Improved Follower Dialogue - Lydia
This mod doesn't just give Lydia a new voice - it adds over 350 lines of dialogue to make her an actually interesting character and major part of the main quest. Absolutely must have if you're using her as a follower.
Serana Dialogue Edit
If you like to play through Dawnguard DLC, this mod is just essential. Serana is a character with one of the most interesting backgrounds, but dialogues with her were always a bit dull and limited. This mod goal is to fix this problem, drastically expanding her dialogues amount and giving a lot of reactions on the events around you when travelling together (especially noticable if played through Dragonborn DLC).
Serana Dialogue Add-On
An expansion to Serana's dialogue in order to make her feel more organic as an interactive character with the player and the world. This includes more conversations with the player, quest awareness, radiant dialogue, and much more. With this mod, Serana should be a more engaging character not only in Dawnguard, but for the whole game. Compatible with Serana Dialogue Edit. Lots of patches here .
M'rissi's Tails of Troubles
Half-khajiit, half-human. Meet M'rissi and decide your own role in her life. Will you be a slaver, a saviour or a lover? That's for you to decide. Fully-voiced thrilling personal questline will also give you decent amount of enjoyable hours. There's a visual replacer available, as well as this one, and INIGO patch .
Hoth
Brutal warrior companion with unique voice and amazing visual customization.
Aurlyn Dawnstone - The Reclusive Philosopher
Altmer sorceress with over 1000 voiced lines, own reactions on events and own temper. Visual replacer addon is available.
Recorder - Standalone Fully Voiced Follower
Definitely not very lore-friendly looking, but a great and original fully-voiced follower with own questline and various reactions of surroundings and your actions. Install the bugfix patch and take a look at customizer and one more visual overhaul.
L u n a
Not custom-voiced, but absolutely unique-looking beautiful female follower with own combat style.
Alex's Nereron - A Dunmer Companion
A custom voiced Dunmer Companion with over 400 voicelines, custom features and completely standalone.
Khash The Argonian
A completely lore-friendly fully voiced follower mod with 770+ lines of custom dialogue. Take the young Argonian, Khash, on your adventures.
Mythos
An amazing and underrated follower mod from the authors of "Citizens of Tamriel". Venture forth with two fully-voiced companions, each with their own branching quests and reactive personalities - dive into the Skyrim dangers with a party of characters worthy of any great RPG. Beautiful character replacers available here . You can also watch a showcase of it here.
Shirley - A Skyrim Follower Mod
Shirley Curry, the beloved Skyrim Grandma, finally comes to the game as a follower you can recruit! She'll join you on your adventures, but don't expect her to simply carry your burdens! She's got more personality than all the vanilla followers combined, and we're sure she'll be a great companion, and a friend. And a grandma! You can also optionally get this visual overhaul to make her look closer to her original irl age.
Nebarra - Fully Custom Voiced Altmer Follower
Nebarra is a rude, blunt, and general prick of an Altmer mercenary that can accompany you in your travels. He is a fully voiced follower with 1,500+ lines.
Gore
Gore is a fully voiced, lore-friendlyfollower with a short, but believeable story, made in the memory of mod author's friend.
The Thalmor's Shadow - Taliesin
A custom Thalmor follower with over 1,000 voiced dialogue lines. A former member of the Thalmor wants a clean start, and only you can save him from his past life.
Bjorn
Bjorn has his own backstory, reacts to missions and surroundings, chats in taverns, has his own horse, interacts with other NPCs, offers small quests, and can lead to a deep friendship or a true love story. 1300+ lines of dialogue. Visual replacers for him here and here .
Triss Merigold - Custom Voiced Follower
Triss Merigold from The Witcher series as standalone voiced follower for Skyrim with a short romance quest.
LoonaShadow - Custom Voiced Follower Mod
A beautiful and poetic follower with custom voiced lines.
Skeever - Custom Follower
An incredibly qualitative, fun and fully voiced follower of many talents - and to me, a really underrated mod. Skeever is a lore-friendly 15,000 (atm, more to come) dialogue lines that cover every single interior in the game, Breton follower who also happens to be a true-scout, everything-reading, enemy-detecting, song-singing, praying-loving, riddle-playing companion. He can smell the surroundings and tell you what kind of enemies you will encounter in the dungeon, he can advise, joke, sing and even read books for you. Whenever you do not know what to do, ask Skeever and see what he'll have for you next. You can also watch a review of this amazing mod here.
Redcap the Riekling
YUP. A riekling follower, because why not? Fully voiced with oer 900 lines and a personal quest.
Lucifer - Custom Fully Voiced Argonian Follower
Lucifer is a custom voiced Argonian follower with over 6,000+ lines of dialogue and own temper. He will listen to your commands unless he feels that it isn't the right thing to do. Try and ask him about his past and he may or may not share any. Continue to make yourself the hero, anti-hero or villain of Skyrim and he will trust you more.. or is that what someone wants him to do? Gain his trust and he will share what he knows about himself as he doesn't know who he really is, even though he may disagree with some of your actions, he won't leave your side. You can see him in action here.
Xelzaz - Custom Fully Voiced Argonian Telvanni Follower
And another one great Argonian follower with over 4,000 lines of dialogue. Also has around 200 lines of voiced interaction with Lucifer, and many dialogue lines in general with several other follower mods - look on the mod page.
Sa'chil - Custom Voiced Khajiit Follower ==NEW==
Sa'chil is a Khajiit spellsword from Hammerfell, she has ~6K lines and is marriageable with 5 quests. Patches for some other mods here.
The Knight of the Void (Sidekicks of Tamriel)
A follower for a grimdark playthrough with 770+ lines of dialogue, custom follower system, mount, 3 various side quests, detailed backstory and romance. Visual replacers here and several armor replacers here.
Remiel- Custom Voiced Dwemer Specialist and Companion
Adds Remiel to your game, custom voiced with ~2500 lines of dialogue, a Breton engineer who will accompany you in your travels. She's travelled from Wayrest to explore dwemer ruins in Skyrim, but she needs your help. While she's not much of a fighter, she boasts a knack for machinery and will reprogram a dwemer spider to fight alongside you both.
Thogra gra-Mugur - Orc Follower and Quest
Help an Orc widow get revenge on the one who wronged her. Multiple body options, custom dialogues, a quest with different endings and more.
Telmiltarion - Fully Voiced Male Altmer Follower
Voiced altmer companion with 800+ lines.
Caryalind Thallery The Aldmeri Prince
A complete lore-friendly fully custom-voiced follower mod of a charming Aldmeri prince. 500+ lines.
Dzarkim
An arachnophobe's dream come true and/or worst nightmare. Fully-voiced dwemer automaton companion, ready to be thrown into the nearest volcano.
Nessa
A friendly thief companion that comes with all new quests, over 800 voiced lines, heaps of content and a whole lot of trouble.
Light and Shade
A game-changing follower with reactive behaviour, tonnes of memorable dialogues (1100+ lines), special functionality and more. Read the mod page to get a grasp of her.
Daegon - Standalone Custom Fully Voiced High Elf Follower
Daegon is a fully custom voiced Altmer princess, lost in Skyrim searching for secrets and adventure, with over 1,700 lines of dialogue. Optional visual replacer here .
The Hidden Blades - Akaviri Followers Bosses And Weapons
Adds 9 new lore-friendly Akaviri followers+presets as well as new armor sets, weapons and bosses.
Northern Witcher - Alenzar's Thorin Crow-Claw
Doesn't have a voice acting, but just looks badass.
Followers as Companions II
An SE port of "Followers as Companions" mod from Skyrim LE.
Alkaia
Custom-voiced female follower.
Companion Yngvarr
Badass and (imo) WOW-inspired companion.
Kirsten - Voiced Follower
Kirsten can be found at Haelga's Bunkhouse, ready for adventure and crime.
Diana Vampyre
Diana Vampyre adds hours of additional gameplay as well as the lovely Diana Pureblood Vampire follower. The dungeon master has stolen Diana's spell books and it's up to you to find them and learn the secrets of Pure Blood Vampire Magic.
Toccata Follower
Vivace Follower
Chaconne Follower
Succubus-san
Beautiful followers from the author of Bijin series. She will heal you and other followers in combat. Includes a MCM that allows you to fully customize her combat behavior, class/skills, and spells.
Companions and Followers
Mod adds 12 generic followers travelling around the Skyrim (instead of just sitting and waiting for you).
Spectral Assassin Tweaks
Simple adjustments to everyone's favorite Speaker of the Black Hand - to make him smarter and deadlier.
Creature follower mods - new creature followers or improved vanilla beast followers:
Gladys the Corgi - A Custom Dog Follower Mod Adds a friendly corgi companion to join you on your adventures, voiced with the sounds of an actual corgi of the mod author. Inconsequential Pets Choose from a range of 74 Inconsequential Pets and share your adventures with up to 6 pets at a time. Pets are invulnerable and cannot attack or be targeted by hostiles (MMO-style pets). A Cat's Life A Cat's Life aims to bring cats to the land of Skyrim in the most immersive and fun way possible. Towns and villages will have both stray and household cats wandering around who you can interact with. You'll be able to adopt cats through gaining their trust and affection and even purchase your own cats from pet stores. You can also watch a review of it here. A Dog's Life A now, finally, similar mod for the goodest bois and girls, from the same author. Philmorex - A Rideable Steerable Dragon Follower Philmorex is a rideable, steerable dragon follower. He will accompany you in your travels, and will assist you in your battles - aside you, or while you are riding him. Use intuititve commands to fully control your flight. Garm the Husky Companion A port of a popular LE doggo follower. Tiikeli - Tiger Follower Fierce tiger follower to stand by your side in your battles. Werewolf Companions - Turns the Companions at Jorrvaskr into Werewolves If a member of the Companions is near death and bleeding out, they will automatically transform into a Werewolf to unleash the beast on your enemies. Once they calm down they will automatically transform back into a human and automatically re-equip their armor. Kishar - A Spriggan Utility Follower Kishar is an Alteration/Illusion caster with some very useful custom spells, similar to Clairvoyance, Waterbreathing, Muffle, Rally, and Pacify. Zephyr - Standalone Rabbit Companion and Friend This mod adds a standalone talking rabbit follower in Jorrvaskr in Whiterun. Meeko the Ghost Dog This mod turns our favorite Meeko into the ghost dog. Now he has a colorful aura, ghost resistance, immune to poison and has no level limit. Simple Little Buddies
Three little and cute, custom voiced creatures to accompany you on your travels.
Harold the pack goat
Ahem....bb-beeee-eeee?
Ihlenda Reconstructed
A helpful dwemer doll that just needed a few bolts tightened and a good polishing.
True Meeko
Vigilance Reborn
Frost Reborn
Sabretooth - the loyal Sabrecat Companion
Grunt - The Bear Companion
Drastically improved and beautified vanilla player homes, new player homes, castles, estates and hideouts. Player home is absolutely a matter of taste - size, style of design, features - that's all up to you, so here I've just listed a wide "base" of various beautiful and qualitative mods of this type to choose from.
Before you start, if you prefer the visual presentations, you can take a look at some of the best mods released in 2018:
Unlimited Bookshelves First of all, grab this essential mod - it does exactly how it's named and will be very useful for you, as it's compatible with modded homes as well. You can also grab this little patcher for better compatibility with some modded items. Self Filling Bookshelves Sick of trawling through your inventory looking for the books you want to display? Well, no more! Note: Not compatible with Unlimited Bookshelves mod above. Better Bookcase Retexture for books and glass replacer for closed bookcase. Obscure's Art Editions - Noble Shelves Noble shelves remodel.Vanilla player homes and estates overhauls.
Lakeview. Manor - As It Should Be Remodels and decorates Lakeview Manor in absolutely beautiful, creative yet lore-friendly way. Allows you to customize you the home in many variants. The best ever existing mod for this vanilla home and one of the most qualitative in general. A member of my "best of 2018" player homes video. Breezehome Beautiful Breezehome overhaul from Elianora. Breezehome by Lupus A beautiful Breezehome overhaul. Simple yet very functional. Wynter's Breezehome Another take on Breezehome. A hassle-free, well-appointed home overhaul. Hjerim TNF A successful attempt to make this house more elegant and functional completeness. Honeyside TNF A mod from the same author, but for Honeyside this time. Proudspire Manor TNF And for Proudspire Manor. Proudspire Another really great, elegant Proudspire overhaul. Anduniel profile For a lot of vanilla player homes overhauls. Restoring the Aretino Residence Fix and upgrade the Aretino residence into a proper (player) home! Invite Aventus to return home! Give Sofie a warm place to sleep - or just use it for yourself. Fully voiced quest with 12 possible upgrade options. You can a see a showcase of it here. ian48 For simple yet stylish facelists for vanilla player homes. HyliosSykes profile For also pretty simple, but detailed vanilla player homes overhauls (and some taverns too). Proudspire Manor Remodel - Bourgeois Apartment Fancy remodel of Proudspire Manor - now with decorations, bookshelves, and wine. Snowberry Cottage - Rebuild Hroggar's House Rebuild from the ashes! After destroying the vampires seeking to enslave Morthal, you can now rebuild Hroggar's ruined house into Snowberry Cottage - a quaint, lore-friendly player home that includes all crafting stations, ample storage, a child's bedroom, and an optional library and trophy room (compatible with spouses and Hearthfire adoptions). Nightingale Hall Restored - Karliah as a Follower Upgrades Nightingale Hall into a more liveable and functional space, and allows Karliah to become a follower. Adds a portal to the Twilight Sepulcher, ability to level up Nightingale gear, and other features.
New ones - large size - castles, mansions, estates.
Legend of the Eagles Nest A fortress with amazing level of details and with everything you may need in player home, located in snowy mountains between Riverwood and Whiterun. It also contains a questline to rebuild it to proper glory. Caranthir Tower Reborn While designed for a mage character initially, this amazing magic tower can actually serve as an epic base for anyone (but ofc without magic skills at all it will be very hard to complete its questline). Yes-yes, questline. It's not just a tower - it's like a complete new world inside it. It offers features never seen before, customisation, and is more than just a player home. The tower must be restored through a Hearthfire style crafting system or you can simply purchase everything you need. This mod is also based heavily around player choice. Aemer's Refuge One of my personal favourites between various player home mods. A big keep located high in mountains, with a lot of unique features, but what is the most important - unlike many other (even pretty popular) player home mods, each, even the tiniest details and clutter piece in this mod is placed exactly where it should be - and while being pretty huge, this keep is looking absolutely great with each detail on its own place. Also install this . LC_Build Your Noble House Ever wanted to build your own castle step by step? Seek no more! This mod will give you the chance to build your own noble castle with your own hands. You will only start with a small shed and a tent, but in time you build a whole village and your own fortified noble house. Each building will yield revenue and produce materials that will be deposited daily in your shed. A member of my "best of 2018" player homes video. Halls Of Dovahndor The ultimate home for the ultimate Dragonborn. A fully detailed, original, lore-friendly home in Sovngarde. The Scarlett - A Buildable Ship The Scarlett is a large buildable ship mod with over 200 build options to choose from, featuring two small quests and a new unique location. The ship also features a fast travel system along with plenty of storages and other functional things. Black thorn Keep Fully functional custom asset player castle with original look. Located North of Dragon Bridge Tel Nalta II Tel Nalta is back! Simply the best Telvanni-themed player home ever. A huge thematic mansion with multiple floors, beautiful dunmer design and the unique mechanics of building (or, rather, growing) it. A must-have if you ever wanted Morrowind inspired player home. Raven Castle Huge (really huge), dark, ambient castle in gothic style located in its own worldspace. Will fit great any vampire/necromancer/warlock characters. Skyrimlazz profile Check it for dozens of beautiful (and mostly pretty big) castles and palaces. Mornfallow Manor Buildable player home southwest of Windhelm with complete construction system, tons of storages and all needed tools. Morskom Estate This mod is a large player home with one purpose in mind; to provide a unique home in Skyrim that you the player must build. You will have a bare old house up in Dawnstar which you purchase and renovate. The home includes support for your family and has more than enough storage for you hoarders out there. Deithwen - Witcher Inspired Home A large player home greatly inspired by the architecture and characters of The Witcher series. Silverpeak Lodge A very large player home made to house all of your followers and family. Maple Manor Player house near Ivarstead with a few functions and linked to the Legacy of Dragonborn safehouse. Springwood Estate - Player Home Purchase a new player home located in Solitude with all the features the dragonborn needs. Hearthfire adoption compatible. Fleetford Fleetford is a player home within an inn and a full surrounding settlement complete with traders, followers etc. The location is between Whiterun and Windhelm (by Darkshade and Cradlecrush Rock). The Shrouded Lair - A Vampire Home A castle of pocket realms in your own plane of oblivion for your vampire or any evil character and followers. Mod has simply an amazing interior design fitting the vampire character greatly. Also install this expansion/fix addon for it. Crystal Creek Mansion Beautifully designed middle-sized mansion near Pinewatch, with unique look and some custom features in addition. You'll like the guardian for sure :) Azura's Dawn A luxurious mansion situated beautifully on the Treva River, halfway between Riften and Ivarstead. Heartwood Castle Lore-friendly and highly defensible player home in the Rift. Medium sized. Family and follower friendly; crafting stations; generous number of planters; named storage; guards and other staff; mannequins and weapon displays, etc. Oars Rest Oars Rest is a new small village found on the edge of Lake Ilinalta. It's a nice small town with secrets for the player to uncover through the use of notes and hidden secrets. Apart from its mystery, it's a perfect stop for travelling adventures such as yourself to stop by, take a breather and sell some of your loot. Note: Also install the fix patch which can be downloaded via the link in comments section. Frostspire Tower A massive magical player home with vast amount of features - ability to craft dozens of new spells, teleport to all major cities and more. Syerscote Syerscote is a new town with new meshes, custom voiced NPCs, quests and a purchasable player home. Ported to SE from an LE original mod, with some extra new features and fixes. Coldstone Keep Supermassive custom asset player castle. DemonicTurkey profile For several vanilla+, but impressive and functional estates/large hideouts. Thur Vonun Sanctum Extensive, feature-packed castle. LUFTSHIP K747 Famous Dev Aveza Airship mod ported from LE with many improvements and additions. The Library of Paarthurnax A large player home at the Throat of the World, unique in its own way aka actually looking as a castle of a dragon. Showcase here. Whitepeak Tower - Dawnguard Themed Player Home Dawnguard themed tower on a mountain near Whiterun with displays for artifacts, multiple adoptions friendly. Crystalwind Estate and the Waterfalls of Rielle A new large estate inside an own custom worldspace. Riftcastle Lodge - A Player Home for Skyrim Looking like inspired by Riverside Lodge mod, this one lets you to explore a large hunter's lodge in the northern forests of the rift. The lodge includes all workbenches, player home amenities, and an exclusive separate bathhouse. Shipwreck Cove Explore a new player home island, known as Shipwreck Cove, located near Solstheim. Once home to a famous pirate king, this abandoned hideout has everything the Dragonborn needs. Haafingar Hall Haafingar Hall is a player home located in Solitude with stunning views of the capital. The home costs 23000 gold, is family friendly and also highly Customisable. Windstead Cottage A large mansion located in the mountainous hills near Morthal. Featuring a forge, alchemist greenroom, library and a grand yet simple kitchen.. The home is situated on a hill, and doesn't require any additional questing or purchasing from the player. Note: Has some navmesh issues so followers may get stuck, but asides from this, it's a great mod! Hjertesten Hall - Player Home and Settlement Have you ever wanted to own land in Skyrim, with resources to manage and room for friends and family? To live like a true Lord, and not a mere wandering adventurer? If the answer is ‘Yes’, then welcome to Hjertesten Hall. Manor Of The Revenant Lord A massive, dark vampire style player home, located in a new custom worldspace called the Lost woods. Riverwood Falls Manor and Bleak Mines A medium-to-large mansion accommodating player and family, followers, blacksmiths, mage, apothecary, cooks, and property workers. Explore the assets and dangers of Bleak Mines and caves. Lore-friendly and feature rich including Hearthfire gardening, cooking, farm animal, immersive features, and linked and cloud storage. Fellheim - The estate with the best view in the Rift Welcome to the Fellheim fortified estate. A large player home situated near Ivarstead overlooking the Rift with some amazing views. Toxin Doctor Laboratory Located in the catacombs of a small abandoned fort in the mountains of Eastmarch, this laboratory is the ideal player home for toxin doctors, dark alchemists and all kinds of mad scientists, where ethics and morals give room for curiosity and experimentation without limits.
New ones - medium to small size - homes, small cottages and hideouts.
Elianora profile That's with no doubts a first profile you may want to look at when it comes to player homes. Elianora is a goddess of player homes, simple as that. She is specializing mostly on small and cozy player homes of absolutely various styles - so in her profile you most likely will find a mod for no matter what character type you are playing as. You may also be interested in this little addon for it.
Note: Unfortunately, Elianora has just a few of her mods for Skyrim SE, while having almost 60 for Skyrim LE. You have either to try convert the mods you like from LE yourself using CAO. Haem Projects profile Flying dwemer ship? A home on a tip of a magic staff? Tree home? Check out EXTREMELY creative, fantasy, Morrowind-inspired player homes by the authors of amazing Project AHO quest mod. Note: the dwemer ship is a part of Project AHO mod already. Terra Umbra - Mobile Floating Island One of the most creatively-made player home mods I ever used. An incredible player home for master Alteration mages. New spells found on a corpse near Alftand allow you to raise a portion of the dwemer ruins, including one of the ruined towers. This tower can then be moved to any part of Skyrim, if you have the will to move it. You can a see a showcase of it here. Leaf Rest An interactive & customizable home located in the town of Riverwood. It contains a full forge & crafting area, along with some unique features including: An interactive gardening system, a wood burning fireplace, quick access bookshelves, business ledger trading system, & more. The entrance faces towards the west, overlooking the river. A patch for JK/ETAC and buyable patch are available. JK's Riverfall Cottage A great alternative for Riverwood home from well-known JK. A cozy medium size player with everything needed. Rayek's End A mid-sized, atmospheric hideout with a history just off the beaten path between Riverwood and Whiterun. If you don't mind the sound of waterfalls and prefer a secluded place to kick up your feet - this may be the home for you. A buyable patch is available. Ebongrove - Recall and Teleport Player home in the volcanic Eastmarch, its flora thriving under a dwemer sun. Teleport to all the main cities, and recall anytime thanks to the previous owners' magic experiments. All usual features of a home, and a bit of Dunmer lore. A buyable patch is available. Antennaria Beautiful, overgrown cavern temple home. Lake Haven Cliffside Cottage Pinecrest Estate Multiple adoption friendly, simple but immersive player homes from the same author (with no loading doors and see-through windows for the third one). Rooms for kids and followers, all vanilla crafting stations, named storages, planting soils, bookshelves and custom displays for all unique items. Note: If you liked this and 2 previous mods, don't forget to check out this author's profile in general, as he has much more player home mods. Pale Marsh Manor - A Unique Player Home Medium sized cozy home with unique custom landscaping that you can view through your house's windows. No load doors within home. Harborside - Solitude Bridge Home A uniquely modeled, no load doors home overlooking the Solitude harbor, just under the arc. A buyable patch is available. Mona Alta A mid sized player home in the mountains of lake Illinalta, with beautiful and very unique interior. The Northern Star Retreat - Revisited A mid-sized home on the calm and cold shores of the Pale. Hunters Cabin of Riverwood This mod original part is its size. Small cabin with minimalistic interior design - to have a rest and eat, located near riverwood with a great view on the town. Personal Quarter Teleport to your personal quarter from any place and return to where you were. geekiejo profile For a few nice little thematic LE player home ports. Canalside Bunker A safe haven for rogues and sneaky thieves nestled along the Riften canal. Family and companions welcome. Astronomer's Loft -- Small Loft Library Player Home in Whiterun A small, warm, and cozy loft home located in the attic of Arcadia's Cauldron in the center of Whiterun. You can a see a showcase of it here. The Lucky Skeever of Solitude A house, hidden away behind and the upper floors of the Winking Skeever, waiting for a new tenant. Falconroost Treehouse and a small estate. Umeguru profile For a few small, cozy player homes. Sami Hut - Cosy Player Home This cosy little home, located in Hjaalmarch halfway between the Imperial and Stormcloak camps, is based on the traditional dwellings of the Sami people, with Elder Scrolls-ish flair. Laboratorium Originally-looking player home with little extras and two quests. Note: don't use together with "The Legend of Taram Dane" dungeon mod. SlimeSire profile A few unique-themed player homes/hideouts, with background quests and unusual look wrapping around certain deities or roleplay archetypes. Sindora's Cottage In The Woods This mod adds a small fantasy style cottage with an Apothecary Vendor out side of Riverwood. White River Farm White River Farm is a buildable farm mod that is simple, lightweight, and cozy. Corners of Skyrim Ever felt that a few areas of Skyrim are a little empty? Ever feel that a little something was supposed to be there in a particularly bland area? Ever want a little something to spice up those empty areas? Then this mod is for you, giving small immersively blended hideouts. Ocean Saber - a Redguard Ship player home The Ocean Saber is a small immersive and fully functional Redguard-style player home ship in Skyrim. Red Shadow - a Redguard vampire ship player home Basically a twin brother of the mod above from the same author, but styled for the vampire player. Milandriel - A small piece of Valenwood in Skyrim Incredibly beautiful, green, small wood elf tree house. Wintersun patch here. Emberveil Estate A cosy little hideaway in Whiterun Hold. Plenty of special features without being over the top. Moonlight Cottage - Player Home Player home outside Windhelm. Hearthfire compatible. Wind Lodge - A Winter Home in the Pale Wind Lodge is a small playerhome due South of Dawnstar in the forest, it features a unique style with storage options hinted to the survival gameplay style. Undergrowth Hollow Tranquil and isolated cavern that contains a cozy cabin where you can live out your life in peace. Spend your mornings enjoying breakfast on the patio or get lulled to sleep by the soft sound of the cascading waterfall. Autumngate - A Believable Player Home A small, believable player home situated near Ivarstead in the Rift. Millwater Retreat Millwater Retreat is a player home situated on the edge of lake Ilinalta. It’s been left in a broken state after plans to restore it went sideways. Uncover the mystery of this old mill and build it back up into a profitable business with the help of a few labourers. Silvermoon Mansion A small player island in the middle of lake Ilinalta. Faerdham Player home in Frozen marsh. Windyridge - Player home in Winterhold Windyridge cottage is located near entrance of Winterhold. Two cozy cottages with a small prequest, thematic containers, everything needed for base needs and some additional functions. Mammoth Manor A family-friendly cozy manor with a beachfront sauna by the lake Ilinalta in Falkreath. Haven Bag Portable house in a bag, simple as that. Also install a fix for it. Falkreath Treehouse Alchemist Edition - An Interactive Player Home A cozy, intricately decorated, and fully exterior (no load door) treehouse dwelling designed for an alchemist, druid, hunter, ranger, or woodland mage. Trollpacka - A house for witches and alchemists A small but detailed house in the swamps. Fitting for witches, alchemists, druids or anyone who just likes the style. Aki's Tower Small cozy tower situated in the tundra (or Solstheim) standing ontop of an island that ripped itself out of the ground. Comes with (or Without) a ghost follower. ak0d profile For several small-to-medium sized original player homes or hideouts. aureoy profile For tiny nifty hideouts. Myrkheimr Nordic dwelling house for true Nords, featuring the usual commodities. Extended Rest - A Player Home A "dungeon camp" as your pocket dimension. Thalmor Headquarters - Player Home Bring back the Thalmor Headquarters to life with a fully interactive Thalmor inspired home located in the city of Solitude. It is a medium sized home with a crafting basement, custom resort and a balcony overlooking Solitude. Yngol's Spear Lore-friendly and highly defensible, medium-sized player home near Windhelm. Family and follower friendly; crafting stations; planters; combination of named, unnamed, and linked storage; steward; mannequins and weapon displays, etc. Valtara Tower Magic-themed player home located south of Falkreath hidden among the mountains. Embark on the quest to rebuild a forgotten ruin into a splendid tower. emfearlesshart profile For several small-to-middle sized player homes with unique look both outside and inside. Half-Moon Cottage Cosy cottage close to Half-Moon Mill. Shaman's Hut Adds a tiny player home, a Shaman's hut, to the plains of the Whiterun hold. Red Rose Mill A beautiful quaint mill, resting in the blazing forests of the rift. A great option for a starter home. White River Priory Oblivion-style Priory near Riverwood with 6 resident monks. Stalker's Refuge - Vampire Player Home A vampire player home south west of Falkreath. The Meadows Cottage Cozy cottage within the Whiterun Hold between the city of Whiterun and Rorikstead. Sindora's Hidden Hearth Small fantasy-themed home with 2 versions available . One for 4 Followers and one For Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions of up to 4 kids. Ilovespiders profile For a few unusually planted player homes. Adventurer's Sanctum Adds a small to mid sized player home near whiterun with space for you & 5 followers with dynamic lighting (changes based on time of day). THE TINIEST SHACK Yup. Rolegur - An Atmoran Home Comfy, quiet Atmoran home located in the north of Skyrim. The Winking Skeever Loft A beautifully decorated starter home, suitable for those who want to live in the big city. It has a balcony with a nice view over Solitude and is highly configurable with lots of options. Solve the mystery of the previous owner who has gone missing and left behind a mysterious artifact, and find new paths to walk in and out of Tamriel. Oldhollow Chalet Adds a tiny player home in the skyrim tundras with great views and some great features. The Rippling Isle - Player Home Adds a small home on a isolated island in the middle of the sea. Frostholme - An Underground Snow Retreat A cozy and small underground retreat in the middle of the Pale.
Combat & stealth, perks & spells, AI & animations, creatures & factions. Different overhauls and improvements - everything that affects your game variety and difficulty. There is one general Skyrim issue that (thank you Bethesda) wasn't changed at all from LE to SE. Skyrim script engine, Papyrus. It's static in terms of how many scripts it can handle, and this can not be expanded by any means (unlike the video memory limitations for Skyrim LE, for example), it can not be fixed or changed and it doesn't depend on 32bit or 64bit, our your PC specs - at all. Consider Papyrus a bottle which can handle only X amount of water. When it's X+1 or more - scripts are started being cluttered in your save file instead. This generally causes so called "script lag", save bloats, and, eventually, a broken game, and as mentioned before, the fact Skyrim SE is 64bit game doesn't give any benefits. So when it comes to gameplay mods (most of which have scripts in this or that amount), you need to be same careful in SE. Now, a quick manual of "how to see if my game can handle more script-heavy mods":
To test if your game overloaded with scripts or not, is very easy.When you are like starting to feel you have plenty of gameplay mods already, and not sure if your game can handle one more script-heavy survival mod, or two more combat mods etc - don't worry. Install them.
Then, launch your game and make NEW SAVE. While you'll be testing the game, save ONLY on that slot.
Now, go and force game to script-heavy situations. Go and fight bandits in some polulated fort, visit few big cities, run here and there. Visit locations with stormy weathers, and ofc, make actions that are depending on the mod you have just installed (like, build the camp if it's Campfire, or change your clothings several times etc).
Game running fine? No stutters in combat or actions, no crashes? (Exactly stutters - short-time game freezes, not the regular fps drops). Great! You're good to go. Stutters/crashes appear in combat, populated cities, during certain scripted actions? Nope. This mod is overloading your game - skip it.
And don't forget to delete the "test" save after.
Improved and smartened vanilla creatures, hundreds of new creatures, lore-friendly and not (up to your taste), new bosses and various improvements to vanilla guilds and factions - you will find them here.
Creature mods:
Skyrim Immersive Creatures Huge. Amazing. Immersive. Mod adds dozens of creatures to Skyrim. New monsters, factions battles, bosses and hundreds of encounters. All these things can be easily configured in the MCM. A must-have mod. Also grab the "Fix for Ogre Club" file and either 2k (recommended) or 4k textures pack, as the default mod textures are 1k only. You can see a brief showcase of it here. Also, grab some extra better textures/models from here and here. Lastly, there is a patch collection from the mod author for some popular mods. SkyTEST - Realistic Animals and Predators Best animal overhaul mod even existed. Immersive and lore-friendly. It gives animals amazingly improved AI - so giving you amazing new experience. Haven’t asked yourself why wolf packs never hunted the mammoth? Or why mammoth attack don’t at least knockback you or why animals are never scared by dragons? Think no more. Install and have fun :) Also, install the "SEQ File to fix inconsistencies with the mod" file after the mod's main file itself. You can see a brief showcase of it here. Also make sure to grab all needed patches from SkyTEST Integration Project page and install this HD textures addon. Animallica - Skyrim Wildlife Overhaul I have no idea how I missed adding this mod in the initial 2.0 release. Silly me. That's a great mod to add plenty of new animals, both predators and non-aggressive ones, to your game. Don't forget to grab a SkyTEST patch for it at integration project files page ;) Deadly Dragons Adds 14 new dragons and unique skills to them. Adds amazing dragon ‘assault’ system. Via MCM you can configure dragons stats - health, damage and much more. A must-have one, imo. Diverse Dragons Collection Amazing mod that adds 28 new beautiful dragons to game, with 7 ranks for each dragon type, 16 new breath attacks and 19 new abilities. Greatly configurable MCM. Compatible with all dragon mods. My personal recommendation - it’s a great addition for other dragons mods. You can see a brief showcase of it here. Chaos Dragons Mod adds 45 new unique dragons to game. It’s similar to Deadly Dragons/DDC, but much less lore-friendly. It’s compatible with dragon AI mods, BUT not compatible with Deadly Dragons so you’ll need to choose. Splendor - Dragon Variants Simply a must-have mod, no matter which your "dragon" mod setup is. Drastically increases the visual diversity of enemy dragons, while using only vanilla resources, ending with 784 possible combinations. Fully compatible with other dragon mods Beasts of Tamriel Awesome mod that adds dozens of new creatures, both monsters and critters - some are not much lore-friendly, but every creature in the mod can be disabled through MCM. If you’re looking for even more expansion of your creatures variety, try it! Also install this patch to prevent several possible crashes from appearing, plus there's also INEED patch available. Diverse Werewolves Collection Adds variety to enemy werewolf encounters. There are now 25 werewolves and 13 werebears, each leveled at 11 possible ranks for a total of 418 new enemies. More Werewolves If you want to meet more furry enemies. Immersive Horses
Amazing and very immersive mod that offers a big improvement to vanilla horses system. Many new horses types, improved and balanced horses abilities, dozens of management options and (finally!) mounted spell casting. It's also more lightweight and stable than its predecessor, "Convenient Horses". Also install script fixes for it.
Simple Horse
While being much more stable then Convenient Horses, Immersive Horses is still pretty script-heavy - so if that matters for your mod list and you still want better horses functionality, but even more lightweight one - pick this neat little mod from author of TK Dodge.
Horse Whistle Key
Call your horse, access his inventory, equip saddles and rename it using a single key. Simple, lightweight and configurable in MCM. Also recommended to install the animated whistling addon.
Simple Horse Tweaks
Stands for its name - get the "Simple Horse Tweaks" form the Files section.
One With Nature - Dynamic Animals and Creatures
This awesome little mod gives you ability to configure how different types of animals will act related to character - allied, cowardly, friendly of defensive.
MihailMods Creatures
Mihail is currently one of the most active mod authors at Skyrim modding stage. His productivity simply amazes. He's focused on making standalone creature mods - both lore-friendly and creatures ported from other games (Souls series, Witcher etc). He currently has around 150!! creature mods, and ofc while not all creatures will fit your personal taste - the huge variety will always have something personally for you. Also grab this audio fix for his "Old Gods of the Hunt" mod if using it, and if you want more crisp textures on some of his animals - retextures here . You can see showcases of some of his creatures here.
OpusGlass profile
Plenty great standalone creature mods - either restoring cut creatures, or adding new creatures from TES lore. From the author of DDC and Splendor. Profiled linked instead of a separate mods now, as author released more of them lately.
Skinwalker21 profile
For dozens of unique creatures, lore-friendly and not, with a custom models, animations and sounds. Introduces some neutral critters as well.
Wild Horses
Adds over 100 wild horses to the tundra plains of Tamriel.
Witcher Horse Expansion
Over 50 new horse coat colors, 20 unique horses with special effects and optional ENB light, 21 unique ESO inspired horses, wild horse herds and more. Plenty of patches for popular mods here. If using "Simple Horse Tweaks" mod, grab this patch .
Fairies
Enhance the mystical beauty of your Skyrim game with these mysterious gentle creatures. Over 150 Fairies will be added to the wilderness of Tamriel, bringing spectral light and playful joy to your game. If using ENB, also install this.
Seasonal Wildlife Distribution
Adds seasonal leveled lists to simulate hibernation, migration, and other effects of the changing seasons on Skyrim's wildlife. Has patches for most of well-known large creatue mods, such as Skyrim Immersive Creatures or SkyTest.
Battle worn creatures
Ever wanted some of Skyrim's creatures to look like they have been in a battle? Well now they can.
Worn Undead
Adds undead versions of a variety of Skyrim's creatures.
Otters
Adds otters and wolf-otters into Skyrim. You can also get a sound addon for them to be more quiet.
Skaven of Skyrim SE (Warhammer Fantasy)
Adds voiced Skaven to the world of Skyrim via leveled lists.
Diverse Dogs
Adds diversity to the dogs of Skyrim, and optionally adds more dogs to farms, cities, and jarl's courts.
Wild Herds of Skyrim
Adds four wild horse herds to Skyrim. Each herd contains six horses: A lead mare, a stallion, and two mares with foals.
Butterflies Unchained
Butterflies Unchained makes butterflies and moths behave more like actual animals, rather than basic resource points. They now roam freely to explore the world alongside you. You can a see a showcase of it here.
Diversified Chickens
Chick fillet. But diverse.
Horse Stamina HUD
Displays your horse's stamina in the HUD when riding a horse.
Arvakr
This mod makes Arvak look a bit more like a normal horse, gives him better stats and a few new abilities to make him more interesting.
PermaFrost
A similar mod, but for Frost, from the same author.
Nightmere
A similar mod, but for Shadowmere, from the same author.
Zooming Horses - A Movement and Stamina Overhaul
Tired of useless horses that are worse than the apocalypse longstride spell? Want to play a non magic character, but don't want to fast travel? Tired of asthmatic horses that have no stamina? Mod is for you then.
Zim's Dremora Improvements
This mod has been designed as a balanced, lore-friendly improvement of the Dremora in Skyrim designed to make Dremora difficult opponents that can rival other deadly foes without making them overpowered. Also grab the USSEP patch.
Better Fire Wyrms
Fire Wyrms are stronger and only attack enemies.
Emperor Penguins
Flightless birds from the icy shores of Tamriel, reaching heights of over 1 meter, these social animals feed on fish and squids in the cold ocean of the Sea of Ghosts, and serve as food for some of the region's most voracious predators. This species lives in large groups on coasts, alongside Horkers and other marine animals.
Improved Fish
Adds many new fish to the waters of Skyrim. Both smaller pond fish and bigger fish in the category with salmon.
Varied Chickens
Adds several breeds/colors of chicken (barred, black, white...) to some places around Skyrim.
Faction mods:
First of all, an absolute must-have mod to greatly improve the main Skyrim "enemy" faction: bandits:
OBIS - Organized Bandits In Skyrim Definitely best bandits mod. It adds amazing variety of bandits (about 2500!! in total), dozens of bandit factions. Bandits are groupped, positioned, have unique skills and improved AI. There are also optional plugins, for example, plugin that will add bandit raids around the towns and villages. My personal recommendation. You can see a brief showcase of it here.Patches & addons:
Cloaks of Skyrim patch
Invisible bandits fix
The "Proper Fix for the invisible bandits" file is recommended.
OBIS Loot Visually overhauls many of the OBIS bandits and their loot. Also adds a boatload of other content. Note: works fine with the latest OBIS version. High Poly Heads for OBIS
Missives patch
Bigger Bosses for OBIS
Get the "Bigger Bosses - OBIS Patch" file. Works fine with lastest OBIS version.
College of Winterhold:
College of Winterhold - Quest Expansion Tired of the College of Winterhold not actually teaching you any magic? Tired of jumping into Saarthal after your very first lesson? This mod provides 7 new starter magic lessons/quests to make your College of Winterhold feel like an actual school of magic. Compatible with "Improved College Entry - Questline Tweaks" and "College of Winterhold Entry Requirements" - make sure to load this mod after them. Improved College Entry - Questline Tweaks
Choose your school and more improvements for the College of Winterhold. Fully compatible with Immersive College of Winterhold too.
College of Winterhold Entry Requirements
Adds customizable skill level and Magicka requirements to join the College of Winterhold. Compatible with Immersive College of Winterhold. Note: this mod is not needed if you're using "At Your Own Pace" COw plugin.
College Days - Winterhold
Go to school! Pay exorbitant fees to be mocked. Actually be a master at something magic-related before becoming Arch-Mage. Compatible with Immersive College of Winterhold. Also install this patch.
Immersive College NPCs
Adds more students and guards to the College of Winterhold. Almost fully compatible with Immersive College of Winterhold - you can use them together, just small cosmetic conflicts will appear rarely.
Thieves Guild:
All Thieves Guild Jobs Concurrently
Lets you take on all seven types of Thieves Guild jobs at once, instead of only one from Delvin and one from Vex at a time. Note: this mod is not needed if you're using "At Your Own Pace" TG plugin.
Less Tedious Thieves Guild
Remember that 125 job requirement for the full experience? Well, forget about that now.
Thieves Guild Bounty Clearer
This mod adds an NPC to the Ragged Flagon who can remove bounties on the player character for a fee. Also grab an improved audio addon for it.
Ragged Flagon Shortcut
Tired of running through two loading screens to get to the Ragged Flagon? This mod attempts to make it easier to get to Tonilia and the Thieves Guild quest NPCs by adding a manhole in Riften leading directly to the Flagon, and a ladder from there leading back out to Riften.
Thieves Guild Requirements
The Thieves Guild will now only recruit other thieves. Brynjolf will no longer approach you if you are not a thief, and the Thieves Guild questline will not be activated until the player meets the necessary requirements. You can also choose to set requirements that must be met before progressing along the Thieves Guild questline. Note: this mod is not needed if you're using "At Your Own Pace" TG plugin.
A Change in Managment - Seamless Transition of Guild Master to Brynjolf
Makes Brynjolf Guild Master of the Thieves Guild seamlessly. Mod includes remastered audio files, edited quest messages and objectives, and ensures all subittles are updated with the new dialog.
Thieves' Night On the Town -- Tnott
Overhaul for radiant quests from Vex & Delvin: hold selection, targets in ALL holds, job & hold independent crime tracking, concurrent jobs, fixed targets in stock locations.
Guild Master Quest Letters
A small mod that adds 4 letters to Delvin Mallory's desk. The letters will start the quest The Dainty Sload, Imitation Amnesty, Silver Lining and Summerset Shadows.
Thieves Guild Dialogue Fix
USSEP compatible version of the essential fix to the thieves guild members dialogue system to prevent them spilling their life stories pretty much as soon as you meet them.
Thieves Guild Master Recognition
Thief encounters who try to mug you should recognize you as a Thieves Guild member if you're Guild Master.
Thieves Guild Vault
Adds items to The Thieves Guild Headquarters and the Ragged Flagon each guild level up. Note: Not compatible with Opulent Thieves Guild.
Destroy the Thieves Guild
Kill the Thieves Guild plaguing Riften and engage in alternative ways to gain the quest exclusive loot.
Dark Brotherhood:
Dark Brotherhood for Good Guys Another amazing mod from the same author. Don't worry, it doesn't transform DB to group of pacifists - but gives you various alternative choices. Dark Brotherhood Reborn - Dawnstar Sanctuary Not every super cool assassin organization wants to live in a filthy dark damp hole in the ground that has no real storage and not enough beds for everybody. It's time for the Sanctuary to become a proper base of operations. A few patches available here
.
Save The Dark Brotherhood
Simple as that! No more scripted deaths of your comrades - their survival now depends on you. Protect your Brothers and Sisters during "Death Incarnate" to reap their use as followers and spouses later.
Your Choices Matter - A Dark Brotherhood Expansion
This mod extends the Dark Brotherhood questline in many ways and adds an optional alternate ending. The ending you get will depend on the choices you, player, make throughout the story. Completely voiced dialogues.
Listen - Dark Brotherhood Radiant Quests
Adds a new set of Radiant Quests to the Dark Brotherhood, to give meaning to the title of Listener. If using "Your Choices Matter" mod, place this after it in load order.
Dark Brotherhood Motivations
Adds a little backstory and motivation for some of the Dark Brotherhood contracts.
Dark Brotherhood Abduction Redux
Prevents Astrid from being able to abduct you with impunity when beginning the Dark Brotherhood questline. Conditions configurable via MCM.
Destroy the Dark Brotherhood - Enhanced
This mod allows the player to take a more politically neutral role in destroying the Dark Brotherhood, while also allowing players the chance to obtain all the unique loot they normally miss out on.
Hidden DB Sanctuary Entrances
Hides the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary entrances.
Penitus Oculatus
A quest where you can join the Penitus Oculatus after the vanilla "destroy the dark brotherhood" quest and get all the rewards.
Companions:
The Companions - Earn your stripes
Simple mod delaying progress in The Companions questline in order to make the Dragonborn a regular, well-established member before actually becoming part of The Circle or even Harbinger.
Proving Honor Companions Quest Progression Fix
Companions Dialogue Bundle
Adds around 120 lines of new, voiced dialogue to the Companions. It comes with new dialogue options, new misc dialogue & new scenes, as well as some enhancements to more under-utilized characters.
Silver Hand Armored
Mod gives Steel Plate Armor to all the hunters of the Silver Hand so as to turn this faction into a warrior faction rather than a gang of bandits.
Reasonable Silver Hand
The members of the Silver Hand no longer attack you on sight like common bandits. Instead, you can find out a bit of their story and might even become a honorary member.
Bards College:
Bards Reborn Student of Song Become a Bard and Bards College Expansion This mod give the Bards College a massive makeover, adds a new study quest, new bardic powers, and a new character to flesh out your experience as a Bard. It includes all the great features of a well-konwn Become a Bard mod and expands on their use in the game. Compatible with the mod below if using this patch . You can also install this
addon on top of the mod itself.
Skyrim's Got Talent - Improve As a Bard
Play instruments, get better, NPCs react to your skill dynamically, many new songs, lots of easter eggs, simple implementation. A compact, yet powerful Bard Gameplay Overhaul. Note: make sure to follow the required files instructions on the mod page. Compatible with the mod above if using this patch . You can add an extra layer of immersion to the mod so your character now can react to other bards performance with a different idles, grab this great lil mod. Interesting NPCs patch available.
Bards College Excavation
Adds a bard excavation to Dead Men's Respite after completing Tending the Flames, with 2 unique bard NPCs, fully voiced dialogue, and a repeatable quest. compatible with the mods above.
Everything else:
Dawnguard - Hall of Vigilant Requirement
A small yet logical tweak that adds an additional requirement for the Dawnguard quest to start: having been inside the Hall of the Vigilant.
Faction Exclusivity
A small mod that immersively™ prevents the player from joining multiple factions. Read the mod page for details.
Stormcloaks For Good Guys-LESS RACIST
A mod from "Good Guys" series author - does exactly how it's named.
Open Civil War
Expands the civil war by many new battles and sieges.
Hunting in Skyrim - A Hunting Guild
Mod adds a fully functional hunting guide to the game, and completely overhauls the entire hunting experience. It features realistic animal skinning (like Red Dead Redemption), animal trapping, kill & stat tracking, new skills and abilities, new NPCs and locations, new dungeons, new weapons and more.
Outlaws Refuges
Inspired by Elder Scrolls Online, adds Outlaws Refuges to major towns and cities.
Vigilant Faction
Ported from Skyrim LE, mod adds a joinable Vigilant of Stendarr faction to the game, with ranks and radiant quest system.
Bandit Facemask Disguise
This mod adds new, standalone Facemasks to the game that will be seen on Bandits throughout the land. The player can now join the Bandits and walk among them as an ally by simply equipping a facemask.
Sokco's Guild Starter
Start your own guild and choose its members, motives, and location.
Arma Thalmoris
An overhaul of the Thalmor faction. It adds several new Thalmor-themed armor sets to the game and has members of the Thalmor faction equip the new armor instead of Elven.
Akaviri History - Lore-Friendly Additions and Tweaks
Akaviri History seeks to add some Akaviri aspects to Skyrim where it makes sense in a lore-fiendly manner.
Diverse Skyrim
Why you never saw even a single orc in imperial legion forces? Or a women? Why hunters were only elves and humans? If you want to change this aspect of the game - not just randomly, but absolutely logical and lore-friendly - get this mod for sure. Adds hundreds of new NPCs with unique appearences to the levled lists for added variety and diversity while staying lore friendly. Also install this fix. Patch for Unplayable Faction Armors here .
Dealing with Daedra
New factions with quests, new spells and artifacts. Magic systems offer power for a price to non-mage characters. Witchhunters Guild, School of Julianos, Gatekeepers of Oblivion, Cult of Flesh, Ghost-Sea Smugglers and much more! You can a see a showcase of it here.
You can also look on the creature/faction mods I'm personally using in my ultimate mod list, but take into account it was made for LE initially, but you can still reproduce the mod list mostly.
New spells, shouts and improved vanilla ones, immersive magic additions, rebalances and changes, enchantments.
Before you start, if you prefer the visual presentations and more in-depth review, you can take a look at some of these spell mods in action:
First, let's see some magic-related mods that are improving spellcasting/learning experience in this or that way:
Dual Casting Fix Fixes a vanilla bug which causes the game to treat dual cast spells as if they were single cast. Visual Animated Enchants - VAE A replacer for the visual and animation of the enchantments on weapons to make them more magical and immersive. Also install the fix for it, also choosing needed patches in FOMOD installer, or use the version better tweaked for ENB straight away instead. Elemental Destruction Effects and Reanimation A pretty innovative mod which adds a possibility to cause visual elemental effects on slain enemies and corpses, as well as adding a magic critical hit mechanic to all kinds of elemental magic. Pretty much an essential addition to your load order.
Between the next few mods below, choose one:
Spell Learning and Discovery My personal favourite between such mods - lightweight and configurable, it prevents player form learning spells instantly, making player to study them by spending some ingame time. Mod also has other cool features like increased chances to learn spells the more spells you casted, chances of learning about new spell when talking to mages and so on. Compatible with all spell mods out of the box. Spellforge - Engaging and Convenient Spell Acquisition Tired of crowded spell vendors? Want to filter your spell selection by level, school and sub-type (e.g. Fire)? Want to feel like a powerful mage making their own spells in a torrent of arcane flames and unleashed power? Stop eating tomes and instead try out a more immersive, configurable and fun way to expand your spell book. Spell Tutor A relatively freshly released mod for alternative spell learning with own vision - really well feature-packed and greatly configurable. My personal second favourite together with Spell Learning and Discovery. Challenging Spell Learning Pretty original, but simple alternative to previous mods. In addition, compatible with absolutely all spell mods on Nexus. Grimoire - Spell Mastery Another simple and interesting implementation of spell learning. Spell mastery takes time. With Grimoire one must always have a spell tome on hand to cast its spell until mastery is achieved.Nice!
Scrollwriting in Skyrim Scrolls are no longer a non-renewable resource. You can now craft your own scrolls, like any self-respecting mage who dabbles in enchanting should be able to. ScrollScribe - A Scroll Crafting Mod A scroll crafting system that adapts to your load order and allows you to turn modded spells into scrolls. Ever wanted to have scroll versions of all those crazy Apocalypse or Arcanum spells? Now you got 'em! Also grab this patch optionally. Spell Tome Sorting Changes spell tomes names to "Spell Tome - [School] [Rank] [Spell Name]". Only changes spell tomes so you can buy them more easily, no spell names are changed. Atronach Friendly Fire
Friendly conjured atronachs will now heal if you hit them with a spell of the same element.
Vision
Spiritual successor to Predator Vision, this mod is a new take on the way perception powers work in Skyrim.
Mods introducing dedicated spellsword mechanics. Remember that Ordinator has own, balanced and fun spellsword mechanics implemented in two skill trees - these mods may and most likely will make you OP on some extent - but at the same time, they have own unique features which you may like. Choose only one mod between these.
Spellsword Sword or magic, why to choose? Install this mod and be able to launch prepared spells with weapon swings. Note: Ordinator has several spellsword perks and one of the perks is making almost literally the same, so if you're running Ordinator - you don't need this one for playing as spellsword character. The Flamebringer AIO - Immersive Spellsword Use as much as many different Spells and functions without changing spells. Combine close-combat and the wonders of magic into one very fluid combat style with unique combinations of visuals. Spellfury - Hit Stuff to Cast Spells One more approach to spellsword gameplay with pretty nonregular design. Turns magicka into a rage/fury like mechanic (no regeneration instead you gain magicka on weapon hits). Also, tries to improve the character progression of spell-sword style characters. Complete with a MCM to tweak and/or disable many features. Conduit - Short-term Weapon Infusions When holding a weapon in one hand and a spell in the other, you are able to temporarily "conduct" the spell through that weapon. Different categories of spells make the weapon do different things. This effect will overlay on top of normal enchants and does include additional weapon FX that will overlay too. It even works on Bound weapons.Slice, smash, bang!
Awakened Magicka Simple but effective magic overhaul. Note: You don't need need if you're planning to use big perk overhauls like Ordinator or Path of Sorcery. Unattuned - Immersive Spell Failure Magic is dangerous. Littered throughout in-game texts and conversation is evidence that magic is a difficult and dangerous undertaking. Spells can fail if you do not maintain focus or have the adequate skill. This mod adds spell failure to the game. Many spell archetypes have unique failure mechanisms. Works on NPCs as well, fully configurable and compatible with mod-added spells. No Force for Illusion Magic Stop Illusion spells from throwing things everywhere. Conjuration Hand FX
Changes the in-hand spell effects from the default purple swirl to custom colors for each of the summonable creatures. This was made in order to remove confusion from not knowing what conjuration spell is in your hand at the moment. At a glance you can now see if you have a Flame Atronach or a Frost Atronach in your hand!
Dragonhide Fixed
Fixes several major bugs with this master tier vanilla spell.
Enhanced Invisibility
SKSE plugin that improves and fixes bugs with Invisibility effects. If you're modding Skyrim "VR", get this instead.
Use Telekinesis on Traps
Allow you to use telekinesis on soul gem traps, trip wires, pressure plates, and more.
Cooking with Fire
Cook food with fire spells.
Magic Sneak Attacks
Simple SKSE plugin which enables sneak attacks with magic. Note: not needed if you'll be using perk overhaul like Ordinator or Path of Sorcery.
Elegant Candlelight (with ENB Light and Toggle)
A Candlelight replacer with four versions to choose from.
Now, the spell mods themselves:
Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim The biggest and greatest spells mod in history. While adding 155 new spells it’s still really well balanced and immersive. Absolutely any player will find something useful here - just for damage or for the immersive roleplay. It’s also very compatible with other magic/perk mods. You may use or not use another mods with it but you just must use this one :) One of my two most favourite spellpacks for Skyrim. Don't foget to grab Ordinator/Vokrii patch depending on which one you're using. Note: Enai released a sort of reworked version of it lately here. It will be a good use to you if you like Apocalypse but think it's tad too much in general. Patches/Addons (for Apocalypse): Categorized Favorite Menu for Mages - Apocalypse Apocalypse - Ocato's Recital - Auto Dispel Elemental Staffs for Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim Patches/Addons (for Odin): Cleaned textures Improved summons models Improved conjured creatures sounds Scrollwriting in Skyrim Patch
Some other patches
Cha-poo!
Arcanum - A New Age of Magic
This pretty new spell pack is simply and literally breathtaking. It combines both new amazing visuals with new amazing mechanics of the spells, resulting in absolutely next-level spell mod. Currently mod has Destruction, Restoration, Illusion and Conjuration (read note about it further) spells available. You can also watch a showcase of it here. Note: Latest version of the mod is improperly packed and carries lots of bugs, so until mod author fixes - so either install the 3.8.2. version (the last one before Conjuration was added, it's fine), or grab (mostly) fixed latest version of the mod here (get the full version - you won't need to install the original mod itself then - still make sure to endorse it).
Elemental Destruction Magic
Awesome mod that adds 30 new spells related with different element. Another mod feature is that different types of enemies are weaker/stronger to different elements. This can bring additional immersion to your mage playthrough. Optional simplified addon is available, as well as Fulcimentum patch .
Forgotten Magic Redone
Mod adds 39 new spells. Key feature is it also adds 10 improvements for each of them, so 390 improvements in total. Also install a fix for it.
Shadow Spell Package
This mod adds "shadow" themed destruction/illusion spells and perks to Skyrim, looking and acting awesome. These spells are based around drains, damage-over-time and debuff effects. Great mod for ‘dark’ mage playthrough. Ordinator patch here .
Dawnguard Arsenal
Amazing mod for everyone who like Dawnguard and paladin/vampire hunter playthrough style. Mod adds new armors and weapons, new sun spells and also improves existing dawnguard sun spells.
Spectraverse - Magic of the Magna-Ge
Mod adds interesting questline during which you can obtain 42 new destruction spells. Questline is based on TES lore, it has 5 voiced NPCs, 6 locations and 6 quests.
Dwemertech - Magic of the Dwarves
Similar to previous mod, but this one is related with dwemer lore. - 42 new Alteration, Destruction and Restoration spells. - 14 bionic upgrades - Interesting short quesline with voiced NPCs.
Triumvirate - Mage Archetypes
A latest work of the greatest Skyrim mod author, Enai Siaion. Triumvirate adds support for five mage archetypes (druid, shadow mage, warlock, cleric, shaman) in the form of 15 balanced spells each, which are available immersively through vendors. Some spells may be not quite balanced, but all are useful for roleplaying purposes. Patches for Immersive Sounds Compendium ,
Tonal Architect
A high quality Dwemer themed collection of spells from Enai Siaion, themed around devices, tinkering and automatons. It is similar in style to the Triumvirate classes.
Skysunder Metamagics
Awesome mod that adds unique spell mechanics and improvements. Spell charging, magic impacts, blinks, spell sharing, improved spell explosions and a few more features.
Wild Magic Surge
This mod aims to make magic more volatile and dangerous by re-creating the Wild Magic system from D&D in Skyrim.
Vitrium
Vitrium offers an immersive, animated and well balanced pack of spells, tools and consumables. Compliments Skyrim's gameplay loop and adds preparation gameplay (animations for actions included).
Depths of the Reach
10 new spells, a new world event system, and a 2 hours long adventure that takes you to iconic locations from ESO.
Aetherial Tomes
Spell mod that adds plenty (around of 100) of new spells that fill missing roles and alters a few vanilla spells for balance.
Warp Magic - Lore Of Ruin Spells (Warhammer Fantasy)
Adds 14 Standalone Warp-Magic spells to the game.
Astral Magic 2
Ancient spells tapping into the flow of Aetherius, drawing starlight to strike opponents. Updated version of the mod.
Epic Restoration
Adds 32 non-violent spells to the Restoration school.
Aura
A mod with simple yet interesting mechanic. Adds toggleable aura spells, which provide constant effects for yourself and/or nearby allies/enemies. All auras reduce your maximum magicka by a specific amount while active (upkeep cost).
Secret of the Blood Armory
Discover the Secret of the Blood Armory and obtain unimaginable power. A blood magic spell mod.
Darenii profile
For multiple, from small to medium in number of spells, well-made, thematic spellpacks that are usually fitting both vanilla+ and heavy-modded setups. If using their mods, you may be also interested in installing this addon to make them more effective. Showcase here.
Kittytail profile ==NEW==
For various small spell packs themed as per different character/magic archetypes. A few new ones were added by the author lately. Some of these are pretty disbalanced or even plainly overpowered, so test them in game and see which ones you'd like to use generally, and which ones - probably just for screenies.This said, everyone's to their own in a feeling of balance, ofc.
The Miracle of Flight
Adds three modes of flying transportation for skilled mages: a flying carpet, Hethoth's Floating Disk and a dwemer conveyance. Actual flying was not something game intended so it can kinda ruin the balance/exploration immersion, but mod itself is really well made and can be great for screenshots and roleplay.
Shalidor's Migrant Portals
Adds a new dungeon to the Labyrinth which becomes available to explore once you've completed Shalidor's Maze. Inside is a small chamber with a new boss battle and a reward of a collection of portal stones allowing for instantaneous travel across large distances.
Dragon Age Spells Redux
Pretty unique mod that adds 21 new spells from Dragons Age games with powerful effects and beautiful visuals. But the main feature is that spells now have cooldown, similar to Dragon Age series. So keep that in mind when installing the mod :)
The Witcher Signs
The best adaptation of the Witcher 3 signs into Skyrim - if you're a Witcher series fan, this mod will be likely a must-have for you. Showcase here. You also want to grab animations addon for it for even higher witcher-style immersion.
Ace Blood Magic
Unique mod that adds a real blood magic spells to your game - this spells cost your HEALTH to cast. Basically, an anti-vampire spell mod.
Kagrenac's Wisps
This mod adds craftable dwemer light sources.Their origin is unknown, though some say that wisps were invented by legendary dwemer magecrafter Kagrenac.They will light your path in dark dungeons and caves. Wisps are equippable, so you can assign them to hotkey.
Wards Functionalities Extended
A magic ward overhaul. Customize magnitude, cost, charge rate and absorption rate. Block melee weapons with your ward. Break your enemy's ward with your weapons. Protect yourself from arrows. Make shouts pass through wards. Play with new expert and master level wards. Odin patch here .
Meteorokinesis
Have you ever wanted to control the weather, or turn the sky something beautiful like an aurora? Then this is the mod for you. Meteorokinesis adds 11 new weather altering spells that allow to you to change the weather to whatever you desire the most. Note: Similar spell is available in Apocalypse mod, but this one is slightly more "wide".
Voidgate - A Simple Town Portal
Create a portal and simply walk into it to find yourself in town for your merchant/crafting/whatever business. Then use the same portal spell to return to the wilds or dungeon you came from.
Town Portal
Adds a Town Portal scroll and spell that brings you back to the last visited town or city. Inspired by Diablo.
A Guiding Light - Clairvoyance Reimagined
Replaces Clairvoyance with a more convenient and immersive spell to help you find your way. Patch for Gray Cowl of Nocturnal available here .
Mage Armor Rebalanced
Pretty underrated and very useful mod for people who're playing with hardcore or semi-hardcore gameplay mod setups.
Energy Shield
Add a Mana Shield spell which can be toggled (ON/OFF) with visual effect.
Ion Cannon
Obviously not lore-friendly, but well...an orbital ion cannon blast for Skyrim, because...why not? It looks badass, that's no doubts.
Enchantments, shouts & minor related mods:
Summermyst - Enchantments of Skyrim Amazing mod from the author of Apocalypse spell package. It adds 120 new enchantments to the game, accessible through thousands of new enchanted items that are integrated seamlessly into loot lists and inventories. It also fixes many bugs related to vanilla enchantments. An essential mod to increase your enchanting and overall game experience. Patches/Addons: Weapons Armor Clothing and Clutter Fixes (WACCF) patch
Night Eye enchantment fix
Loot and Degradation patch
VAE Effects for Summermyst
Cooki-goo!
Assassin Enchantments
This mod replaces the enchantment on the dark brotherhood headgear with an entirely new enchantment: Snipe, which is now actually fully useful for any assassin type. Also, the dark brotherhood gear is now also disenchantable.
Robes Enchantments Remade
Changes the enchantments on the college robes to a more potent, interesting, but also balanced enchantment.
Dragonborn Ascendant
Awesome and criminally underrated mod. Its main feature is to boost to shouts cooldown per dragon killed (3% per 5 dragons, capped at 30%) Mod also balances and improves many shouts values and scales battle shouts damage each 10 levels. Don't use together with previous mod, choose one or another.
Thunderchild - Epic Shouts and Immersion
This mod adds 29 new shouts and new abilities to improve your shouts. It also adds 24 new variants of graybeards robes, some new weapons and items and good configurable MCM. If you were bored with vanilla shouts variety - this mod is definitely for you.
Sil Gahrot - Improved Shouts Learning
Allows you to learn Words of Power by killing dragons. You will be able, by chance, to learn almost every shout, except main quests ones, without breaking your game. It doesn't remove the Word Walls, so if you want to explore dungeons for them, you are still able to, but you are not forced anymore in doing all the guild questlines for a Dragonborn playthrough. Learned Words of Power are not unlocked by default, so you still have a choice on how to use your Dragon Souls. Configurable in MCM.
Mystical Materials
Adds mystical properties to weapons and armor crafting materials that will buff matching enchantments placed on them.
Kyne's Peace Reinvigorated
A tiny mod that's changing only one shout, but greatly.
Slow Time Edit
Simply makes the Slow time shout not slow the player down.
Elemental Fury for Enchanted Weapons
Simple yet effective as that. Install the "Elemental Fury for Enchanted Weapons" file (no the "Vanilla" one).
SkyVoice - Become the Dragonborn
Bored of pressing Z to activate shouts? Well, this mod changes that! Shout into your mic and watch as you send your foes flying with Unrelenting Force! Ofc, due how unique it is, it's not always working properly, but it's definitely a cool one.
Shout Pronunciations and Translations - With Thunderchild and Skyvoice support
A mod that will will come in handy for usage with previous mod, and with Thunderchild as well.
Elemental Arrows By Fuma
A lot of them. This said, many of these arrows can make you pretty OP, especially when playing with perk overhauls, so use with caution. Moreover, fully-functional elemental arrows are implemented in Ordinator. Yet ofc, you may like exactly this mod as it adds vastly bigger variety of them :)
Speed Casting
Makes spellcasting (charging) faster. Can make you pretty overpowered, so use with caution.
You can also look on the spell mods I'm personally using in my ultimate mod list, but take into account it was made for LE initially, but you can still reproduce the mod list mostly.
Various amazing mods that can be classified as "overhauls" - a complex rework of various game aspects/systems/ general mechanics, often with a lot of new cool features added.
Note: if you're using "Lux" as your interior lighting mod, make sure you're installing it now as the instructed previously. If you installed it way before, during the "Weather and Lighting" section, reinstall it now, as its installer contains patches for huge number of mods in the sections above, including quest, dungeon and some other mods.
Modern Brawl Bug Fix This is not an overhaul by any means, but a bugfixing mod. The reason why it's listed in the beginning of this section is because it's included in major Enai Siaion mods like Ordinator, Vokrii and Wildcat, so you don't need it if using them. But if you will be not using them - install it. Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim The one perk overhaul to rule'em'all! Mod that offers more than 400 perks to improve your game experience and class bulding. To tell this is a great perk overhaul - means to tell nothing. It’s rich, brilliant and absolutely perfect for both dedicated character skills building and roleplay. To make sure just visit mod page and read a few perks description. In addition to this it’s extremely light-weight compared to other perk overhaul mods and also greatly compatible with everything. If it’s your first try of perk overhauls - try it and you’ll enjoy it. If you’re using another similar mod - switch to Ordinator and you won’t go back. Perk overhauls are absolutely matter of taste, but this one’s quality is just amazing. ‘How much did Enai Siaion pay you?’ - you may ask. I would also ask this, yes. Until I try this amazing mod. Even if you open comments section and see what people often write, you’ll see that many players switched from other perk overhauls and don’t want to go back. Of course, it’s only my personal opinion, but statistics don’t lie and one thing you definitely need to do is to try it :) You can see a brief showcase of it here.Additionally, when using Ordinator, my series of unique modded character builds is fully available to you here (16 builds available atm with more to come).
Patches/Addons: Ordinator - Scrambled Bugs compatibility (and other minor fixes)
Install and forget - by default, you will only get direct bug fixes for couple of perks. If you want an extended functionality, read the mod page carefully (totally optional).
Elemental Destruction Magic - Ordinator Patch
Forgotten Magic Redone - Ordinator Compatibility Patch
Ordinator Enchantment Tweaks
Immersive Performance for Ordinator
Ordinator - Throne of Nirn Improved
Dwemer Certified - Ordinator Patch
Ordinator Perk Spellscribe Sound Addon
Ordinator VR Patch
Vokrii Ordinator Ash Pile Retexture - 2K
Yes, it works for Vokrii too as you can guess :)
Security Overhaul Patch for Ordinator
Boom boom.
Vokrii - Minimalistic Perks of Skyrim
You can call this "Ordinator-lite", a mod from the same author. Smaller and "simplier", while still adding depth and replayability. I personally find the complexity and variety of Ordinator perks its biggest advantage, which allows that insane amount of creative character builds - but if you want something simplier, Vokrii can be a good hit. Also take a look at patches insaller which adds support for some popular mods, and there's also a CACO patch . Optionally, install this (read the mod page carefully).
Cosmonach - Perk Overhaul
Cosmonach is a freshly relased (and updated) perk overhaul which improves all skills. It could use some balancing tweaks here and there, but in general it's really nice perk overhaul - take a look on it for sure!
Master of One - A Double-Edged Perk Overhaul
Qualitative and unusual perk overhaul, which gives both benefits and penalties to perks, and so, your character build.
Path of Sorcery - Magic Perk Overhaul
Awesome magic perk overhaul. It affects Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Enchanting, Illusion, and Restoration trees. The one disadvantage is it’s incompatible with some big and well-known perk overhauls, like SkyRE/Requiem/SPERG. But as it is developed only for mage perk trees and you play as mage you can simply choose to use this mod only. Also it’s compatible with Ordinator, so you can use both of them - just load this mod after Ordinator. To choose perk overhaul it’s absolutely matter of taste - so you are free to try them all anyway :) Make sure to install this fix. There're patches for Apocalypse and Immersive Sounds available, as well as patch for Elemental Destruction Magic, patch for Odin and other sound mods, and also optional and interesting addon mixing magic perks from both Ordinator and POS (will work only if you're using them both ofc).
Smithing Perks Overhaul
A well-made, smithing-only affecting perk overhaul which you can use together with Ordinator, using the respective patch.
Simple Smithing Overhaul
A simple smithing overhaul changing recipes, adding the ability to breakdown most armour and weapons, replicate certain artefacts without their enchantments, and upgrade unique levled weapons and armour. Compatible with Ordinator, Vokrii and Smiting Perks Overhaul - can be used on top of them.
Vampire overhauls. Choose only one.
Sacrosanct - Vampires of Skyrim The second of the two greatest vampire mods and my personal favourite. Sacrosanct overhauls vampires and vampire lords. Reverse progression (stronger when fed), new abilities, powers, perks, hemomancy, various new progression systems, personal vampire questline and many gameplay tweaks for the discerning undead monster. Its main advantage over is while being absolutely revolutionary and all-embracing, it's very lightweight at the same time, and very easy to get used to all new features. You can see a brief showcase of it here. You can also take a look on a small tweak for it here, as well as Strange Runes patch . Lastly, if you like the mod in general but want something more simplified, you can try the "lite" alternative from the same author (sun damage adjustable addon is available).
Sanguinair Vampirism
One more vampirism overhaul, with own design and vampire gameplay approach. An alternative to try if you don't want to use Sacrosanct.
Bloodlines of Tamriel - A Vampire Overhaul
A more complex vampirism overhaul from the same author with lots of interesting features and own approach to vampire roleplay.
Haemophilia - A Custom Vampire Skill Tree
Adds a balanced but interesting custom perk tree for regular vampires. Script-light and perfectly compatible with major vampire overhauls like Sacrosanct.
Werewolf overhauls. Choose only one.
Lupine - Werewolf Perk Expansion Absolutely badass werefolf perk overhaul which introduces absolutely new unique features, like two possible werewolf paths, completely new howls, looting as werewolf, werewolf armor etc. You can a see a showcase of it here Bloodmoon Rising Another, old but great werewolf mod that overhauls werewolf perks and stats. If you like to play as werewolf you should know that werewolf becomes very weak versus high level enemies. Mod helps with this. Use this OR Lupine, not both. Growl - Werebeasts of Skyrim Growl is a lightweight werewolf (and werebear) overhaul from author of Ordinator and Apocalypse. It offers a much smoother werebeast combat experience, scaling, reworked perks, synergies between beast and mortal form, lunar transformations and many quality of life improvements, making werebeasts a viable choice for your character, and all this without "taking over" or imbalancing the game heavily. Mortal Enemies patch available. You can a see a showcase of it here. Sanguinaire (Revised Edition - Skyrim Vampire and Lycanthropy Experience) Another alternative for Vampirism and Lycanthropy gameplay. A complex overhaul with own vision. Once again, take into account it covers both vampire/werewolf features - that's its biggest flaw as it's not compatible with any other big overhaul from both vampire and werewolf sections.Now, let's look on some great enemy overhauls that are affecting enemies in general - their AI, skills, leveling and so on - everyting to make your enemies really worth a fight, a challenging opponents. Choose one.
High Level Enemies Redux A bit improved version of the original mod. Simple but effective, old but good enemy mod - it places almost 900 new high-level enemies across Skyrim for much more challenging gameplay at any levels which are logically placed and will gradually appear starting from lvl 10. For those who are aimed on a harder, long walkthrough. If using Skyrim Immersive Creatures mod, also grab a patch.
Revenge Of the Enemies
One of my personal two favourites between enemy overhauls, with the biggest coverage, great creativity and most challenging difficulty. It improves enemies AI, scales enemies level with yours, gives unique skills to each enemy type, gives them strong cooperation and so on. Also the great advantage is that it’s very-light-weight and almost scriptless. Once again, it's pretty hardcore - so if you're aimed on semi-casual gameplay, it may be not for you, but if you want your game to be real challenging - that's your perfect candidate. After you'll see master vampires actually teleporting using the swarm of bats form, and fight some bosses (both improved vanilla bosses and new added ones), it will be hard to trade this for other mod. But once again, it's about your personal taste. There are also some patches (as well as here) for popular mods available.
Fanatical Enemies
My second personal favourite - I'm basically switching between ROTE and this one in my different playthroughs. Also huge in size, covering whole game, and pretty similar in ROTE in terms of being incredibly challenging, Fanatical Enemies has own approach to many unique enemies and bossfights. Highly recommended to try it.
G.R.I.M.
This mod is not an overhaul of whole game, unlike the mods above - it changes only one certain bossfght, but how - that's a brand new level as for Skyrim! G.R.I.M. reworks the vanilla Dawnguard DLC Reaper boss fight into an epic battle with an elaborate mini-quest, taking place in a separate realm of the Soul Cairn which has a remarkable level design. This fight is fully repeatable, with scaling difficulty, randomized enemies, and dozens of pieces of custom loot. From a boring fight with a HP-boosted skeleton to a real lord of death. It also [can] be used together with the overhauls above without issues - just make sure to load both plugins in xEdit and keep only one mod plugin perks/abilities records affecting the Reaper, as otherwise the fight could be ridiculously hardcore. You can also see a showcase of the mod here.
Ryn's Snazzy Last Vigil - An Ebony Warrior Overhaul
An expansive overhaul of the way you see and experience the Ebony Warrior. Once a man with no lore, no home, and nothing to show for his "undertaken quests", nor his "villains slain". The Ebony Warrior seemed like a last second idea, inspired by the randomly encountered Old Orc of lower levels. No more.
Good.
ASIS ASIS is very underrated mod and its functionality is pretty often misunderstood by players. Also install the improved ini files after you'll install the mod itself. ASIS is a must-have mod for interesting and challenging playthrough. I personally advise to use ASIS only for 3 features: perks and spells distribution to NPC and NPC potion usage. That's the main amazing feature of ASIS - mods like perk overhauls, spell packs and so on, are either not adding possibility for NPCs to acces new perks and spells, or giving that on a very basic level, eventually making you more and more OP. Here where ASIS changes the game - it gives this access to NPCs. With this you can have an amazing game where all new spells/perks from mod could be used by NPCs as well as potions. Its AI option is pretty old and i don’t recommend to use it because modern combat mods have better AI improvements. Also it’s not needed to use its increased spawn features as this feature is buggy as hell and cuases random crashes, plus it's completely illogical. But if you will not check the spawns options in patcher - you'll be totally safe. So once again, I recommend to use ASIS with 2 features: perks and spells. For NPC potions usage, it's better to use much more feature-packed alternative here . Also, don’t forget to run ASIS patcher each time you installed mod that adds spells/perks. Patcher is located in \Data\Skyproc Patchers\ASIS\ASIS.jarRace overhauls. Choose one:
Imperious - Races of Skyrim Awesome mod that overhauls Skyrim races abilities, from the author of Ordinator. Now each race has 3 passive abilities and ultimate active ability that can be unlocked through race quest. That also brings more immersion to playthrough. New races' abilities are interesting and fit perfectly with each race. You can see a brief showcase of it here. Elemental Destruction Magic patch available.
Morningstar - Minimalistic Races of Skyrim
A stripped-down version of Imperious from the same author.
Mannaz - Integrated Races of Skyrim
One more racial overhaul from the same author, with another approach - it gets rid of the "once a day" powers and avoids abilities that only benefit specific builds, making racial abilities still much better than in vanilla, but at the same time, more fitting different builds, modded or not.
Aetherius - A Race Overhaul
A more simple alternative to Imperious. Some of the bonuses are somewhat OP, but you can adjust that through xEdit easily.
Race Balance
Somewhat underrated mod. Pretty minimalistic, simple, but interesting overhaul to races.
True Races of Nirn
Lore-friendly changes to racial bonuses and powers so they are more useful and balanced across the board. A great vanilla+ racial overhaul.
Your Race Matters - Racial Passives
Making passive racial differences truly matter gameplay-wise.
Legacy - A Race Overhaul
A racial overhaul that gives every race stronger racial bonuses, but also some noticeable drawbacks, and also distributes same bonuses and drawbacks to NPC, giving a need for more tactical combat approach. Can be used with other race overhauls with minimum compatibility issues - though, it's not guaranteed the end result will be well-balanced, which depends on your mod setup.
Standing stones overhauls. Choose one:
Andromeda - Unique Standing Stones of Skyrim Mod replaces the default standing stone effects with tactical and interesting new powers and abilities. Each standing stone comes with one passive ability and one active power. While greatly increasing standing stones effects variety, mod is still balanced and great for immersive playthrough. You can see a brief showcase of it here. Also a tiny tweak for it is available. Note: If you like this mod in general but want something simplier/vanilla+ - take a look on a "lite" analogue from Enai as well. Use one or another, not both.
Freyr - Integrated Standing Stones of Skyrim
One more standing stone overhaul from Enai, unique in its own way: it turns standing stones into race specific bonuses and powers. Synergises with and requires the race overhaul Mannaz above.
Curse of the Firmament
A standing stone overhaul that makes blessings more interesting, gives them all drawbacks, and optionally distributes them to NPCs as well.
Nice, let's continue with plenty of other overhauls of most different type (click "show" to open the subsection):
Dragon Combat Overhaul Essential mod that offers amazing overhaul for dragons. Dragons are DRAGONS now - powerful, frightening monsters. AI improvements, unique skills and shouts and realistic physics. You’re fighting dragon, not a butterfly! If dragon lands close to you or makes a powerful tail/wing strike and you did not block this - you’ll be ragdolled. Dragons also can grab other NPCs and just throw them in air and many more other immersive features. If you want to have a real challenge fighting dragons - this mod is for you! I'd say even more simply - this mod is absolutely essential, because no matter how beefy your dragons will be empowered by other mods, this still makes not much sense if they still have stupid vanilla AI and no realistic physics. Also get a fix (the "Old SSE version") file. You can see a video showcase of the mod here. Also, it's recommended to disable this mod Assault feature (set all related parameters to 0), and use Deadly Dragons Assault system instead. Dragon War - A Dragon Overhaul A lightweight overhaul for dragons. Not compatible with other similar mods like DCO or DD. Skyrim Arrow Overhaul This mod completely overhauls the way archery works in Skyrim. This includes locational damage, arrow-deflecting armor, quiver mechanics, a perk tree, crafting and more. Compatible with Ordinator and other perk mods (load after those). DVA - Dynamic Vampire Appearance Finally ported to Skyrim Special Edition, this mod dynamically changes the appearance of vampires to visually represent the different stages of vampirism. Compatible with vampire overhauls like Sacrosanct. Dwemer Certified Don't just let those broken Dwemer Constructs and spare Dwemer Ingots go to waste- use them to build an army of steam-powered robots, upgrade and enchant their equipment, then lead them into battle from the driver's seat of a Dwemer Centurion. Wintersun - Faiths of Skyrim The latest mod and a new gem from Enai Siaion. Hands down the best religion mod you can ever have. More than 45 deities to worship, roleplay-wise worshipping mechanics and balanced unique bonuses! Grab it, don't even think. You can see a brief showcase of it here.
Patches/addons:
Patches for some popular mods
Skyrim Immersive Creatures patch
Custom races patch
Great Town of Shor's Stone patch
M'rissi patch
Artifacts - The Breton Paladin patch
Character Creation Overhaul Character Creation Overhaul brings back birthsigns, classes, specializations, favored attributes, and major/minor skills to Skyrim. No more boring cookie-cutter characters - choice matters again! Use this mod or the mod below. Dealing with Backstories One more great similar mod. Choose how old your character is and how they spent their life up to this point in order to generate starting stats, skills, gear, bonuses, drawbacks and level. Optionally return later to simulate your character aging. Use this mod or the mod above. Sets of Skills - a Skyrim Class Mod A nonintrusive Class mod, that adds 50+ classes without making any changes to existing skill trees and as such provides maximal compatibility (yup, compatible with both mods above). Read the mod page about how to use it. Experience A complete overhaul to experience system in Skyrim transforming it to classic RPG style. Compatible with mods as well. Gain experience by completing quests, exploring wilderness, clearing dungeons and forts, killing enemies and so on. Grab the MCM addon for it too. You can see a showcase of it here. MorrowLoot Ultimate In-depth and, in my opinion, simply essential mod. It makes complete rebalances of various game aspects, making it to play more similar to Morrowind leveled lists and leveling system - rare items like daedric or dwarven are REALLY rare now so you will not see each 2nd bandit in daedric gear when you'll reach lvl 80, enemies level scaling is much more balanced and challenging, and so on - many other mechanics such as leveling and alchemy were changed as well.
Note #1: There are two "flaw" of this mod - it's too complex and will have compatibility issues with just too many other mods. The second one is that it forcefully (without any practical reason) requires Creation Club "DLCs" which are not actually used by most of players. That's why I'm personally using the "simplified" version of it, from here.
A patch
for Guards Armor Replacer is avaialable, as well as CCOR patch , ArteFakes patch , plus lots of other patches here , here and here . You can also get Lore Weapons Expansion patch here and Summermyst patch here . Both are for LE version of the mod, but work just fine in SE. Unique Uniques patch is available in its installer, which also covers combination for it and Reliquary of Myth.Note #2: if you want to achieve "lite" results from this mod and don't want to use the "Simplified" version linked (get mostly only the loot and gear changes without any that can feel too intrusive/arguable in this mod), from Opitonal Files tab, also install these: Encounter Zones (Vanilla), Remove Tempering Nerf, or, once again (that's my own pick) install "simplified" version of the mod (instead, original mod is not needed, also, patches made for MLU itself mostly work with MUS, asides a few from the MLU page itself, which also have CC "DLC" requirements for no reason). Containers and Leveled Lists Fixes - Complete Loot Overhaul If some changes from Morrowloot, even from "simplified" version, such as "rare is better", are not something you like still, and you want just the loot rebalance, get this mod instead. Rogue-Like Encounters - Savage North Overhaul A massive creature and gameplay overhaul to make Skyrim more grim and unpredictable. Make sure to read the mod page carefully - as while the mod itself is great, it's also just huge in size/complexity and changes/adds a lot - so see if you actually want it or not. Poverty - You Hunger Reborn Successor to You Hunger mod that affects the spawn rates of almost every item in the world along with an MCM that enables user customization of item distribution. An essential mod for hardcore realism/survival fans. CIVIL WAR OVERHAUL - Redux An improved version of well-known Civil War Overhaul mod - still script-heavy, but now much less buggy. Still, it's recommended to play a walkthrough directly through civil war to experience it and then start a new walkthrough without it. Crafting Skills Revamped A neat crafting overhaul that can be used on top of CCOR and other big mods. Read the mod page carefully though to see if you need it or not. Simple and Dynamic Skills - Improved Standing Stones Skill learning modifiers are determined by a combination of the level of the skill and investment in the primary Perks of the corresponding tree. Each skill is accordingly classified as Major (35% XP bonus), Minor (normal XP), or Auxiliary (20% XP penalty*). At low levels, only the first Perk is required for a Major Skill, but at higher levels, further investment is needed. Mod also introduces own changes to standing stones, focused on balanced changes and both pros and cons of certain stones. Arena - An Encounter Zone Overhaul An encounter zones overhaul. KS Dragon Overhaul 2 An overhaul of dragons AI and combat behaviour. Highly compatible with mods that add dragons on fly, and for some other pathes are available in mod Files tab. Ultimate Dragons Another great dragon combat overhaul, with better AI, new skills, animations etc. Choose this one or previous mod. Immersive Movement A well-made movement overhaul for player and creatures. Player, NPC, animal, and creature movements have all been redesigned to feel more believable, realistic, and unforgiving. Crime Overhaul Crime Overhaul makes changes to the way criminal activities are handled by Skyrim guards. They are less inept, getting arrested is less cumbersome, accidental attacks are more forgiving, and thaneship is more rewarding. Also install a lil bugfix/improvement patch. Simple Hunting Overhaul
A simple hunting overhaul that puts gameplay first, while still remaining immersive. Have NPCs react to your hunting skills with voiced reactions, sell your carcasses to make a bit of money on the side and other features. Improved carcass carrying animations here.
Skyrim Revamped - Loot and Encounter Zones
Deleveled gameplay fans, this mod is for you. It's designed to decentralize the player from the world. This is a fairly in-depth deleveling but basically loot and enemy difficulty will increase based on location and type. Yet, the introduced difficulty is somewhat artificial, as it changes mostly just the enemies stats and level. But once again, taste is taste :)
Depths of Skyrim - An Underwater Overhaul
Brilliant mod. Overhauls the underwater environment and adds content to the sea of Ghosts. Adds new grass types, coral and giant kelps, hundreds of new fish, treasures, encounters, fixes landscape seams etc. Don't like the driftwood? Remove it using this patch .
Opening Scene Overhaul
Mod is adding the ability to escape with Ulfric, Elenwen & Tullius arguing, brand new carriage dialogue, a brand new voice for Hadvar (that has received much praise), fixing the infamous 'it's in the clouds' error Bethesda made and much more.
Hearthfire Extended
Love building things? Mod adds new content for the Hearthfire DLC, integrated seamlessly with Hearthfire's construction system. Build any furniture in any room. Build additional wings off your cellar. Also includes bugfixes and enhancements to vanilla apiaries, butter churns and mead barrels.
Lock Overhaul
Overhauls the lock system, adding new features: Lock requirement, smash locks, unlock spell and auto pick locks, with a fully customizable MCM. Compatible with Ordinator (install the alternative version).
Improved quality of vanilla sounds and music, replacers and new standalone music packs to bring maximum pleasure to your ears.
Sound overhauls:
High Quality Music No more muddy compression for the game music. Only loose files (no esp plugin), and just a better sounds of Skyrim's music. Audio Overhaul for Skyrim Amazing sound overhaul mod aiming to make Skyrim's soundscape more immersive, clear, responsive, impactful, while also aiming for maximum compatibility, performance and cotherency with the original game. Ambience, weapons, magic, movement, reverb system, sound propagation, creatures and the overall mix are key areas of change. Once you try it you most likely won’t go back to vanilla sounds anymore. Immersive Sounds - Compendium Another complete overhaul for Skyrim sounds similar to AOS, with a bit more fantasy approach to sounds. Can be also used alongside with minor overlaps, and there's a AOS patch available, and few more patches for popular mods, and some armor mods (Armors of the Velothi I & II patches here ). Also, install the drinking sound fix .
Lucidity Sound FX
Amazing medium-sized sound mod that, by the way, can be used together with AOS/ISC. Just install it after.
Acoustic Space Improvement Fixes
A compatible, vanilla-friendly lookover of every interior cell to stop small homes and shops from sounding like castles and chasms.
Regional Sounds Expansion
An extensive, standalone regional sound overhaul for towns, dungeons, and open world. Regional Sounds Expansion adds logical ambience to towns, the wilderness, pine forests, the rift, caves, the reach, the frozen north, dungeons, forts, and more, improving sound diversity and general ambience.
Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion
Similar mod for interiors.
UI sound overhauls - choose one:
Improved Vanilla UI Sounds
Simple and noticeably more pleasant!
Rustic UI
Skyrim sounds are more rustic and natural. No more 2011 noises.
MEMOSPORE - UI Sound Effects
Absolutely incredible, Souils/Elden Ring inspired UI sound mod.
Music packs:
Celtic Music in Skyrim This mod adds 79 new celtic, fantasy and viking music tracks to Skyrim. Glory Days - Music Of Skyrim Replaces all Skyrim music tracks with amazing tracks of talented Vindsvept (yeah, the songs you're often hearing in my and other Skyrim youtubers videos). Musical Lore (Soundtrack Mod By Nir Shor) This mod adds plenty of new original soundtracks, composed by talanted (and underrated) Nir Shor to your game. The Elder Songs - Fanmade Music Expansion Freshly released pack of amazing fantasy tracks, made personally by the author of the mod, who's a composer at the same time. Highly recommended to try it. Yggdrasil Music and SoundFX Overhaul Amazing dark folk/ambient music pack for Skyrim. Fits the most of game situations really great and gives completely new ambience touch at the same time. Immersive Music Vanilla game has around 3.5 hours of music. This mod adds 16 hours more, carefully picked up from fitting tracks. Cactus Witcher Music Overhaul Mod name speaks for its features itself. As from me - it's a great sound overhaul, hand-picked, fitting the game greatly. The Witcher 3 Music Overhaul Witcher 3 music in Skyrim? Why not! It fits greatly. Dreams and Nightmares Music Mod Somewhat dark and melancholic music pack, made by an independent composer. Fantasy Soundtrack Project patch
available.
Improved Combat Music
Absolutely breathtaking combat music overhaul, which is unique as tracks themselves are sounding like a more agressive, orchestral variations of vanilla ones, giving new, but so familiar experience at the same time.
Hun Lovaas - Skyrim Fan-Made combat music
Another great alternative in form of combat-only music overhaul.
Still - Skyrim Inspired Music
Chill, calm exploration music replacer.
Morrowind Music Integration
Seek audio nostalgia no more!
The Northerner Diaries in Skyrim
Brings "Northern Diaries", the latest album of legendary TES composer, Jeremy Soule, to your game.
Symphonic Soundtrack
Adds (or replaces) over 3 hours of music across over 50 tracks composed specifically for Skyrim, blending seamlessly with the original game and original music.
Chapter II - Jeremy Soule Inspired Music (by Dreyma Music)
Music mod that adds over 1 hour of exploration music to Skyrim using Jeremy Soule's composing techniques. New tracks are added frequently.
JaredAlexanderJohnson profile
For various quality music packs.
Nordenhamr - Viking Music
A work in progress mod set to replace Skyriim's soundtrack with the Nodrenhamr autor.
Melodies of Civilization - Skyrim Fan-Made Music
Adds 25+ minutes of lore friendly/immersive music specifically written for Skyrim.
The Southerner Diaries - A Soundtrack Expansion
44 professionally mixed, lore-friendly songs to enhance your Skyrim playthroughs. Inspired by Irish folk music and other celtic influences, as well as popular film scores. Over 2 hours of custom music, lovingly composed by Pat Mahoney.
Around the Fire - Skyrim Fan-Made Music
Doubles the amount of tavern tracks with lore-friendly/immersive music written specifically for Skyrim.
Valkyrie - Intense Combat Music
Replaces every music in skyrim into a intense lore friendly combat music and sound effects from the awesome Two Steps From Hell & Motionpulse.
Nyghtfall - Epic Immersive Fantasy Music
Adds 2 hours of original & immersive music to the game. This includes unique themes for each major city, epic & aggressive combat music (inspired by Bloodborne, God of War & Assassin's Creed) day/night exploration, dungeon music as well as medieval Tavern music. Comes with both replacer and standalone version.
Dream of Me - a Vindsvept Music Mod
Listen to 10+ hours of Vindsvept's discography while playing Skyrim, all his albums are represented in this mod with music hand-placed to fit the atmosphere appropriately.
Music of Nirn
Music of Nirn is a Skyrim soundtrack expansion mod that adds over half an hour of new combat and exploration music to the game's track list. All tracks written and arranged by Maxwell Jeffries.
Extra Music Pack For Skyrim
A fantasy-celtic music pack.
Magic College Music - Songs for Academy
New tracks specifically for College.
Fantasy Soundtrack Project
Around 230 fantasy-sounding orchestral and instrumental fantasy/epic music tracks for exploring, towns, taverns and castles.
Soulmancer Music Merge
Pretty interesting project - it selectively merges huge amount of tracks from 10+ popular music packs into a single mega pack. Read the mod page for installation instructions.
Smaller standalone sound mods:
Thundering Shouts Gives shouts echo and thunder in the background, kinda like draugr shouts. More Painful NPC Death Sounds Modifies the default death sounds of NPCs to make them sound more painful. TB's Improved Book Sounds Improves the default book opening, closing and page turn sounds. Improved River Sound Takes the short river sound loop, and replaces it with a much longer (and overall more realistic) sound clip. Improved Combat Sounds Combat sounds are now enhanced to improve the overall quality of fights. Brutal Combat Sounds This mod replaces all the boring, low-quality vanilla combat sounds with gory, brutal, fleshy, and bloody new ones. Tasteful - Food Sound Remake
Add the sound of every meal. More than 60 delicious sounds. Check your refrigerator before you go in here!
Chewing Sounds for Spell Tomes
Lol.
Rustic Common Doors
Audio changes the most common doors used in Skyrim to sound more rustic and medieval.
Werewolf Footstep FX Improved
Footsteps for werewolf improved, with a new slider to control the sound in game audio settings.
A New Chapter - UI Sound Replacer
A subtle mod that will replace vanilla clumsy new-game sound and quest objective sounds with some "booky" ones.
Authentic Wolf Howls and Aggro
Replaces the Wolves Aggro, Howl and Distant Howl sounds with singular wolves.
Unused Sounds Restored
Restores a number of unused sound effects.
Critical Hit SFX
A simple audio-replacer for the sound played on critical hits. A short throbbing heart-beat.
Clofas1 profile ==NEW==
For growing series of small sound immersion mods, which are adding brand new ambient sounds which logically make sense in certain regions - like wale sounds around the Sea of Ghosts, distant dragon roars near related locations, ambient animal sounds to the forests and so on.
Realistic Husky Sounds
Adds over 60 all-new, high-quality husky sounds to the Dawnguard huskies including new attacks, barks, idle panting, groans, "talking", etc. Optional patch to make it work for all dogs is available.
Paper UI Sounds for Skyrim
Absolutely charming project to replace Skyrim's UI sounds with paper sounds, to work with paper interface retextures and maps.
Brutal Bears
Complete sound overhaul for bears - more realistic and intimidating.
Satafinix profile
For many voice replacers - from falmer voices and shouts to daedric lords and Tsun. Mods edit vanilla sound files to make them sound more intimidating/grotesque. Plenty of new sound changes were made by the author in the last year. Also look on some patches here.
Talkative Dragon Priests
Adds 32 new immersive lines of custom dialogue to these powerful ancient undead enemies, making your battles against them more epic, frightening and unique. "Demonic" voices overhaul here.
Footstep Sounds Restored - Cut Content Restoration
This mod restores several of unused vanilla sounds for footsteps, rustling for heavy, light and skaal armor as well as sounds for different surfaces (gravel, dirt, snow etc).
Bonewalker
Nearly 12 years later, it's done! With this mod installed, bonepiles now will crackle and rattle, when you walk over them.
A Bow's Whisper - Bow sound overhaul
A rich, detailed sound overhaul for bow handling. Customized for vanilla or AGO animations (download a proper version accordingly). Use this one or the mod below. You can also watch a showcase of it here.
Bow Sounds Replacer
Replaces vanilla sheathing, unsheathing, arrow nocking, and arrow release sounds for the bow. Use this one or the mod above.
Heart of the Beast - Werewolf Sound Remastered
Popular werewolf sounds overhaul ported to SE.
Bass Dragons
Tweaks original dragon sfx files to add more bass that sounds like a LOTR movie.
Male Argonian Shouts - Revoiced
Makes male Argonian shouts sound gruffer and closer to Argonians, rather than using the default human voice. You can also watch a showcase of it here.
Beating Daedra Sound Mod
Daedra Hearts produce a very subtle beating heart sound as you approach them.
Quiet Muffle Footsteps For Player
Completely silences player footsteps when the "muffle" magic effect is applied (through spell or item enchantment). Now you can feel like a true silent, sneaky ninja.
Bard Instrumentals Mostly - Sing Rarely
Tired of constantly listening to the same bard songs again and again? Want some more chill instrumental-only version of them (with still songs happening from time to time)? Seek no more!
(SJG) Better Sounding Female Dragon Shouts
Does your female Dragonborn sound a bit too butch when using a Dragon Shout? Would you prefer she sound a bit more feminine? This mod increases the pitch of all female shouts and is based upon the Skyrim elf voice.
Silent Sneak Attack
No more "tshhhhud".
Softer Conjuration Sound
Replaces the regular Conjuration spell sound with a softer, deeper version.
Vocaris - Conjuration Sounds Overhaul
Or if you want it - an incredible overhaul of every Conjuration-related sound. Goes well together with Immersive Sounds Compendium.
Choo-choooo.
Better enemies AI and skills, improvements in hunting, sneaking, questing, cut content restoration, various options to control what's happening around you in game and much, much more.
Economy and loot related mods:
Trade and Barter Light-weight but great (and I'd say essential) trade mod that offers prices dependency from your faction status, NPC relationship with you, race, region and speech etiquette as well as some other cool features. Playing with it, you will really feel trading mechanics in game having sense. Not conflicting with almost everything. Also install the USSEP patch
. Few other patches are available.
Economy Overhaul and Speechcraft Improvements
A pretty good balanced and wide economy mod for Skyrim that changes plenty of economy aspects of the game as well as Speechcraft perks tree. Compatible with Ordinator and Trade and Barter.
True Medieval Economy
Another interesting economy mod, aimed on somewhat medieval realism.
DLC Integration
This mod adds content from Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn to the world through leveled lists, merchants, and manual placement of objects.
Trade Routes - Regional Economy
Ever wanted to play as a traveling merchant, buying goods cheap where they're plentiful and selling them where they're rare for a modest profit? Than this mod is definitely for you :) Mod adds different trade aspect like regional prices, speech scaling, trade supplies, quests affeting on prices here and there and few more.
Scarcity - Less Loot Mod
Simple and amazing mod that does how it's called - compatible with everything. My personal choice is x6 less loot and x4 less merchant stocks. Note: make sure all 3 this mod's esp files are placed straight before Bashed Patch in load order when building it.
Narrative Loot
Mod adds 1629 new, lore-friendly items to loot lists, with an emphasis on deepening storytelling through loot.
Thematic Loot
Old but great and really underrated mod. It changes the loot that can be found in certain chests. Chests owned by the Dwemer, the Falmer, mages, draugrs, vampires and giants are affected. The purpose behind the changes is to make each chest more representative of the individuals who filled it with items.
Dynamic Dungeon Loot (DDL) - Random Loot System
A pretty old but great and really underrated mod which adds a loot drop system to boss chests found in dungeons. This system uses five tiers of loot to add variety and fun to the vanilla loot system, without breaking the balance of the game. This mod also includes 16 unique, ultra-rare artifacts to find. You can also install this hd retexture addon for it as well. You can also watch a showcase of it here.
Lock Related Loot
Containers have loot according to its type and its lock difficulty.
Bounty Hunter - Bounty Quest Tweaks
A collection of edits to make bounties configurable, easy to take more of, and more rewarding.
Miners and Farmers sell supplies
Now farmers and miners across Skyrim are more than happy to sell you their stocks as you travel.
Hunter Vendors
Adds 6 hunters at the entrances of towns and cities to buy your goods. Sells leather strips, leather, arrows, bows and daggers.
Bounty Gold
Lets you configure how much gold you get for bounty quests.
DON'T GIVE ME ALL THIS STUFF - Less Charitable NPCs
A simple mod that restricts the amount of stuff friendly NPCs let the player take from their homes and stores for free.
Sensible Bribes - Based on Speechcraft Not Level
Bribes make no sense in vanilla, as the value mostly depends on your level, not your speechcraft. This mod fixes that.
C.O.I.N. - Coins of Interesting Natures
Adds new types of coinage of all different values to make Skyrim's economy more interesting.
AI and enemy related mods (note - complex/whole-game-covering enemy overhauls are resting in the "Overhauls" section):
Realistic AI Detection SE (better sneaking)
Simple but absolutely essential mod that recalibrates sneaking, making it much more realistic. Compatible with almost everything, including lighting mods - just read the mod description page carefully to install a proper version for your mod setup. Note: Place this mod to the very bottom of your load order, making sure it's loaded after any other sneak rebalancing mods and mods that affect lighting (weather mods, lighting mods like ELFX and all its modules, etc). You can see a video showcase of the mod here.
Dynamic Weather and Time Based Detection
Changes NPC detection depending on the current weather and time of day. During snow, the peripheral and close range vision of NPCs are severely reduced. During rain, NPC hearing is crippled. During pleasant weather, NPC sight and detection range is increased. At night, overall NPC sight is reduced but hearing is slightly increased. MCM included. Compatible with the mod above.
Enemy resistances mods. Choose only one.
Bring Your Silver This mod brings back the importance of silver weapons in combat when fighting certain enemies (via adding logical resistances to them) and add silver arrows and bolts to the game. Also pretty good compatibility-wise due to a smart scripting. A permanent slot in my personal setup. It's LE mod, but will work just fine in SE after a simple CAO conversion of its assets and changing the USLEEP master to USSEP (LE Unofficial Patch to SE Unofficial Patch). You can also grab some patches from the Files tab, they work just fine with SE versions of respective mods. Resistances and Weaknesses Similar mod with own vision. Enemy Enhancer Yep, that's another LE mod. It works 100% fine as is in SE - though if you're paranoid, you can siply re-save its plugin in SE CK and that's it. This one's bonus is that it's fully configurable in MCM. On top of resistances, it also allows you to furtherly modify enemy types (like skeletons/automatons/dragons/vampires etc) additionally in terms of armor/HP/damage and so on. Super simple, effective and pretty light-weight in terms of scripts.Nice, let's continue.
Better Vampire NPCs They will be leveled according to the PC and get stronger with advanced perks, spells, and all new abilities. Vampires can now be many different classes: one or two handed, light armor, heavy armor, mage, light bowman, heavy crossbowman. More variety, more challenge, more fun. Note: All "big" 4 enemy overhauls are also covering vampires, so load this mod after if you want its changes to have the upper hand. Draugr Upgrades and Improvements Real armor effect for draugrs and not just visuals, new perks, new types of draugrs etc. Note: All "big" 4 enemy overhauls are also covering draugrs, so load this mod after if you want its changes to have the upper hand. No BS AI Projectile Dodge (Magic and Arrows)
No more bandits acting like medium ninjas.
Durnehviir God of Death
A challenging competitor in Soul Cairn and a powerful ally, the Durnehviir that this mod delivers is a better, stronger God of Death. He is re-textured and can breathe blue or purple undead flames. Note: not needed if you're using Revenge of the Enemies overhaul.
Believable Crime Report Radius
If vanilla game one is too big for you. I'd personally still recommend to increase it to 2000 instead of 1000 in xEdit.
Suspicious City Guards
Guards will become suspicious when they see you sneaking around.
Nighteye For NPCs
Khajiit, Vampires and Werewolves...any NPC who are assumed to use nighteye ability get improved eyesight in dark. Note: not needed if using "Dynamic Weather and Time Based Detection" mod.
Smart NPC Potions - Enemies Use Potions and Poisons
Why is the Dragonborn the only sensible person carrying at least a couple of health/stamina potions in Skyrim? This mod makes it so enemies sometimes carry and use a couple of potions and poisons just like you do. This will make combat more fair, more unpredictable and harder. Compatible with everything and customizable via MCM. Note: ASIS has the same function in it, allowing NPCs to use potions, but this mod functionality is just better in everything - more features and more control over them. If you want this feature - don't use ASIS "NPC Potions" feature and use this mod instead. You can see a video showcase of the mod here. Use this mod or the mod below.
NPCs use Potions
A similar mod with a bit different set of functions. More performance-friendly then the mod above.
Forsworn Skinchangers
New Forsworn enemies that transform into werewolves and werebears in combat.
Truly Undead - Reborn
A port of same-named LE mod, and pretty much underrated gem. Skeletons, vampires, draugr and dragon priests will resurrect unless killed by certain specific damage sources. Congifurable in MCM.
Cult of the World Eater - Dragon Priests Buff Alduin
Super simple yet super immersive mod. Gives Alduin a series of powerful buffs which are dispelled by killing the named Dragon Priests. This encourages you to tear down the figureheads of the Dragon Cult before battling Alduin. Compatible with all mods that are changing Alduin or dragon priests. Works well logically together with the "Defeat the Dragon Cult" quest mod.
TsunDal - A Tsun Bossfight Overhaul
A redesign and remake of the Tsun bossfight to make him more challenging and fun to fight.
Ghosts of Akavir - A Boss mod
Adds 3 lore-friendly Akavirir style bosses with unique weapons as a reward. Note: if you're using "Hidden Blades" follower mod, this mod is not needed - same bosses are included in it.
Diplomatic Dragons
A simple plugin that disables random dragons until Sahloknir death.
Lore Friendly armored falmers
Add new falmers to the current leveled list, their wear dwarven armor, and shamans have automaton parts adapted to their body. Some patches here .
NARC Remade - No Animals Report Crimes for Skyrim
Tired of that chicken going up to the guards and being a nark? Annoyed because that one bear ratted you out? Upset because horses are snitches? Then this is the mod for you!
Vampire Attacks Restored Outside of Walled Cities
Bethesda likes to screw up more things in newer versions of the games than in older ones. This helps a bit in this certain case.
Enemy Friendly Fire
SKSE plugin that enables friendly fire amongst NPCs.
Sun Affects NPC Vampires
Vampires that are out in the sun will suffer (a little bit) of constant damage. This affects NPC vampires and the player. Vampires will catch on fire when this damage accumulates.
Deadlier Werewolf NPCs
Non-player werewolves and werebears can now also perform killing blows randomly (from mauling, to decapitation bites), and also use sprint attacks when they pursue you. If using werewolf overhauls, make sure to get a patch for whatever one you're using from mod Files tab.
Dragons Use Thu'um
This mod adds a variety of new (and voiced) shouts for dragons. USSEP, Thunderchild and Deadly Dragons patches available. Showcase here.
Locational Encounter Zones
SKSE plugin which makes enemies guarding a location the same level as the ones inside.
Vampire Clans and Bloodlines
Replaces generic vampires with vampires from five distinct Clans and Bloodlines.
Armor and weapon mechanics rebalance or new features:
ABT - Arrows and Bolts Tweaks
Faster arrows, ability to turn on progressive/increased damage for arrows, increase/decrease amount of arrows found in enemies and sold by merchants and some other useful, customizable settings. An essential mod if you ever planning to use a bow/crossbow.
Archery Locational Damage
Highly customizable (via ini file), script-free locational damage mod for archery. Note: not needed if you're already using the "Skyrim Arrow Overhaul" mod.
Resistances Rescaled
Improves the unbalanced armor rating system as well as magic resistances in Skyrim by implementing a formula closer to what Morrowind had (ohther presets are also available). Fully configurable, a must-have mod.
Signature Equipment
Pretty original mod that may be very useful for some players, especially in roleplay purposes. The more you use the same equipment, the more potent and valuable that equipment becomes. It's a lot like tempering, but you do it by cleaving through your enemies gradually. This allows for a favorite early game weapon to become a signature weapon that scales with your character. Maybe your character might intentionally build up the reputation of a weapon to sell it for a profit. Or maybe you like the way a weapon looks, but its damage just can't keep up. That's no longer an issue now. It's also compatible will all possible weapon mods on fly.
True Armor
Are you sick of swords cutting through Steel Plate like through butter? Every hit being predictable? Every type of armor feeling the same, regardless of material? No more! Greatly increased combat depth and immersion; a sparkle of realism and balance for your fantasy game.
Customize Weapon Speed
Wanna implement your own vision of balance for weapons attack speed? This mod allows you to customize weapon speed by type.
TDF Equipment Restriction
Realistic items usage skill requirements mod.
Item Equip Restrictor ==NEW==
Alternative mod, choose one or another.
Ultimate Spinning Arrows
The see me spinnin'. They hatin'.
Dynamic Equipment Manager
Automatically equips/unequips various gear when applicable.
Plenty of other mods changing most different things:
Simply Balanced This mod can be take as a successor of well-known SkyTweak and is a port of same LE mod. Basically, it allows you to customize pretty much close to every gameplay value - weapons, magic, potions & poisons, skills, enemy stats and experience gains. To say more precisely, if you have your load order setup precisely and know every mod is working in a good synergy - you won't need this mod. But if you're not sure about some balance moments, or just wanna to be able to customize your gameplay difficulty through wide system of parameters - grab it for sure. VioLens - A Killmove Mod Amazing mod that gives you full control of killmoves. Chance, immunity, camera view, new advanced killmoves and so on. This works for melee, ranged and stealth killmoves. Great work and a must-have mod. Multiple Floors Sandboxing Have you ever wonder why the NPCs mostly just stay at the same floor, even though the cell has multiple floors? This little mod will encourage NPCs to climb stairs around them and explore their surroundings more. Skyrim Skill Uncapper Updated (twice) version of the original mod. This, imo, nearly essential mod allows you to get rid of silly vanilla "legendary" skills system by simply uncapping your skills - so now you can raise skills above 100, and all related multipliers and modifiers (even enchanting and alchemy) will grow as well. Besides that, Uncapper does tons of other useful things - you can determine leveling speed (strongly recommened to make it slower to not get lost on huge amount of new things in game if you have heavy-modded game), how many attributes you receive per at levelup (and at which level as well), how many perk points you receive at levelup (and at which level as well) and many other things.
Honed Metal Re-re-updated version of a well-known mod once ported to SE. It partially covers what Loot and Degradation does, but it's focusing on this directly and adds much more features. Blacksmiths and mages all over Skyrim will be able to craft, temper and enchant your equipment, including any armor and weapons added by mods. The quality and price of their work will depend on their skill as blacksmiths and enchanters as well as your barter prowess. Fully customizable through an MCM. To make it work on AE, install this (overwrite the original mod files). Ordinator patch here. Civil War Aftermath Take the fight to enemy encampments all around Skyrim. 3PCO - 3rd Person Camera Overhaul - Smooth Camera Follow An absolutely must-have mod for players who spend the most amount of time in 3rd person. This mod is just revolutionary! It imitates modern AAA games camera movement, which is based on player world coordinates, giving immersive smooth camera follow effect, especially noticable in combat. You can see a showcase of it here. AIM FIX - combat camera with aiming control Makes aiming accurate out of the box. Provides total control over the crosshair position for archery and magic to match the hit point shift caused by the custom animations and mods. User determines how much easy or realistic the aiming will be. Equalizes the accuracy for 1st and 3rd person view. Tons of flexible MCM options and camera features. Note: If using lite version of the mod in pair with 3PCO, while this may look irrational logic-wise, make sure 3PCO overwrites Aim Fix, not vice versa. Cinematic Dragon Soul Absorption To please the cinematic god. GIST - Genuinely Intelligent Soul Trap Mod that shows petty souls who's boss. No more petty souls in your grand soulgems, wasting them. Similar to well-known Smart Souls mod, but newer and more customizable mod from author of Diverse Dragons Collection. Better Third Person Selection - BTPS Rewrites Skyrim's crosshair selection to work more like true 3rd person RPGs - no more spending 5 minutes picking up tiny gold coins from the ground. Book Of Shadows - Behaviour Based Stealth Additions One of the most innovative mods released in 2022. Behaviour-based sneak additions. Fully animated masks, smoke bombs, warhorns, and sneak takedowns. Sneak Behavior Extensions- True Prone System Adds functional prone, diving, rolling and crawling inspired by MGSV and other stealth games. Uses custom animations and behavior. Crawling affects your sneaking and makes you harder to detect at the cost of a slower movement speed. Supports follower NPCs. Plays well in tandem with the mod above. Dynamic Collision Adjustment Adjusts the character controller collision while sneaking and swimming so you can fit under objects. Fixes some races not being affected by Actor Scale. Infinite Stamina Out of Combat
A bit cheaty, but as simple as that.
Infinite Magicka Out of Combat
Similar mod, but for magicka.
Landing Stop
Restricts movement for a small amount of time when the player lands on the ground.
Daedric Aspect
Eating a Daedra Heart imbues you with the strength of a Daedra for a short time.
Simple Offence Suppression MCM - Block Friendly Fire
Blocks friendly fire. Toggleable in MCM.
Serenity of Sleep
Changes the well-rested buffs you obtain from sleeping to something else.
Classic Oblivion Jail System
Brings back the old Oblivion jail system to Skyrim! Now when you serve your time in jail, random stats will be decreased, according to how much days you spent in prison. Also install this.
Better Harvesting
Get randomised amount of ingredients from plants and loot from dead animals rather than always just one.
Improved Adoptions
Ever was bored with vanilla adoption system? Try this. It contains over a dozen dialogue scenes between the kids and others between your spouse and housecarl. Your kids will hang out with other kids when they're in town, and join them in running around town. They'll actually visit the places they say they do. If you've been missing for 3 or more days they'll send the Courier packing with a message for you. You can ask your kids and spouse to accompany you to your new home and have them follow you there!
Candy Shops of Skyrim
Adds sweet shops just outside all of the major cities. Compatible with JK's Skyrim, compatibility with other city mods is not confirmed.
Konahrik's Privilege
Choose one of four new effects for Konahrik; Force, Fire, Fade or Time.
MisterB's Crafting Matters
An alternative to Complete Crafting Overhaul if it's too much for you for some reasons - mod that adds much more to your Skyrim crafting experience. Breakdown Recipes, Tailoring Recipes, the ability to get firewood from miscellaneous items. New crafting materials.
Noisy Thief
There's a chance you'll make noise and alert enemies when taking an item based on the items weight and optional detection when breaking a lockpick or extinguishing a wall torch.
Your Soul Is Mine - Soul Gem Relinquishment
Your Soul Is Mine is like Dragon Soul Relinquishment for regular souls. It adds two spells: One that allows the player to absorb soul gems to purchase various passive bonuses and one that allows the player to absorb part of the victim's soul directly. The absorbed souls may be spent on various passive buffs.
Advanced Mining
Advanced Mining is a full remake of the entire mining process. It has many options, allowing you to control the ore deposits in the game in many ways, each one can be toggled individually and adjusted.
MCM Ores And Firewood
Mine and chop faster, all configuration directly in game at any time.
Smithing And Smelting Improved
Rebalanced smelting and some new crafting recipes.
Souls Do Things 2
Mod which adds various new functionality to dragon souls, making them useful in the game in different ways.
Better Stealing
Simple but immersive mod. If you steal something and nobody sees you do it then the item will not be "stolen".
Pickpocket Changes
A few changes to pickpocketing chance and how it's calculated - pickpocket chance is no longer affected by value, only weight, and maximum pickpocket chance increased from 90% to 100%.
Rebalanced Encounter Zones and Leveled Actors
Simple mod that's increasing base level and level scaling of encounter zones in game. For hardcore lovers.
Encounter Zones Unlocked
Useful mod for challenging gameplay with a little difference approach - dungeons don't stop leveling after the first visit.
Mystic Condenser
Tired of piles of low-level potions/poisons/soul gems cluttering up your high-level inventory? Use the Mystic Condenser to combine them into their higher level counterparts. Many patches here .
No Furniture Camera
Simple as that - just 3rd person camera instead.
Torch Brightness Radius
Makes it bigger.
Vampire Sun Damage Clothes Covering
Somewhat cheating mod as for me, but some people may find it useful.
Civil War Neutrality
You can stay neutral without having to miss important content.
Useful Dogs
Improves dogs functionality to be more realistic similar to how trained dogs irl can behave.
Heavy Armored Soldiers
Imperials and Stormcloaks now have a chance of spawning wearing their own heavy sets.
Optional Starting Spells
This mod removes all starting spells and adds all the novice spell tomes to your starting area. Compatible with Alternate Starts - Live another Life.
Sleep to Level Up
Similar to how it was in TES IV: Oblivion.
Ordinary Thieves
Makes thieves in the world wear regular clothing rather than guild clothing.
Vampires Regen in Shade
Allows all vampires to recover health, magicka, and stamina when standing in the shade, even during the daytime.
Better Skill and Quest Books Names
Not that much "immersive", but definitely may look useful for some players.
Holdable Candles
A small mod designed for stealth characters using extremely dark interiors from ENB or weather presets. The candle illuminates a small area in front of the player, thus allowing the player to see items in front of them to steal, and avoiding the use of a torch (lighting up the entire room and increasing the risk of being detected).
Altar of the Revenant
Allows to "corrupt" grand soul gems into black soul gems.
Selective and-or More Expensive Transmute
Mod to choose which ore you want to transmute by allowing you to dual cast the transmute spell.
Disarming Traps Is Dangerous
Pretty much as that.
Soul Exchange
Sadly, Dragon Soul Relinquishment mod is pretty bugged in SE. This is a simple alternative to it. Mod allows you to convert Dragon Souls to Perks or Attributes.
Cardio - More Realistic Fatigue
Mod introduces fatigue mechanics to Stamina, Health and Magicka and factors in encumbrance effects. Allows full customisation attributed to this through the MCM.
Left Hand Rings Modified
Simple as it is. Makes it possible to wear rings on left hand :)
GuruSR's Werewolf Transformation Meter
Very useful for werewolf players. The bar shows how much time left until transformation will fade off.
Intoxication (Drunk and Drugged visual effects)
Simple as that. Some big mods like CACO already adding such effect, but if you're not using them and just wanna the visual effect - grab this mod.
Skill of Sneaking
SKSE plugin that grants a configurable amount of sneak XP when the player steals an object undetected while sneaking.
Reading Is Good
This mod reworks skill books so that instead of granting levels instantly, they give you a permanent boost to your leveling speed in the respective skill. This means that you benefit more by reading them as soon as you find them. SKSE plugin.
Radiant Requirements MCM
Modifies select radiant quests so that they don't send you to locations with dangerous enemies until your level is high enough. Configurable in MCM.
Realistic Humanoid Movement Speed
Faster walking, slower running and sprinting.
Regen Adjuster SKSE
SKSE Plugin to let you choose regen values outright or based on conditions.
Vampire Feeding Tweaks
Small mod that opens up the possibilities for feeding as a vampire, without needing a big overhaul.
Curse of the Werewolf
With this mod installed if you are a werewolf you will be cursed/blessed. Once a day in a situation that would normally result in your death right before the final blow you will automatically transform into a werewolf and regain full health during the transformation rendering you effectively invincible during the 10 second transformation. Compatible with werewolf overhauls like Growl or Lupine.
Everything about combat - better enemies AI and new skills, injuries, locational damage, unique player moves and overall combat improvements here and there to make dull Skyrim combat shine.
Comprehensive Attack Speed Patch First of all, grab this mod. A simple yet almsot essential mod that allows attack speed effects to stack properly when whatever attack speed buffs/debuffs are applied. SKSE plugin. This said, it's still in development and if you'll notice your attack speed is still not right, you can try this mod instead.
Large combat mods:
Combat Evolved Light-weight, script-free, old-but-good combat mod. Due to its great compatibility it can be used alongside with other combat mods for even better combat experience. Enemies are more agressive and smarter. Stagger, knockdown, enemy skills, and enemy damage are enhanced. But at the same time enemies are not ‘terminators’ - mod is good balanced. I strongly recommend to use it. I also advise to use modular version for more detailed installation process. Wildcat - Combat of Skyrim New combat mod from the author of Apocalypse/Ordinator. This amazing mod makes combat more realistic, dynamic and brings more lethality into your game. Mod ipmroves combat AI that makes enemies more smart, initiative and dangerous. Its biggest and greatest (in my opinion) feature is wide injures system. It’s really realistic and simple at the same time. It also modifies global difficulty levels in Skyrim and gives you possibility to configure these values in MCM. It also offers timed block feature as well as many other combat modifiers. It’s also pretty good compatible with all combat/magic/ perk overhaul mods and mod author also inlcuded detailed load order description list for this/that mod. You can see a brief showcase of it here. Immersive Movement patch is available. Stop On Slash - Hitstop and Screenshake Ever asked yourself why weapon weights nothing? Why your character doesn’t feel any physics after swinging two-handed battleaxe? Then this mod is for you. When the player hits an actor or an object, a “hit-stop” (a tiny pause) is added along with camera shake and blur effects. This makes weapon strikes feel more solid and heightens the sense that a hit has actually been made. Fully configurable in MCM and compatible with everything. You can see a video showcase of the mod here. TK Recoil This mod is similar to previous one, just for the bows/crossbows. When the player shot a bow or crossbow or staff, a "recoil" (a tiny pause) is added along with camera shake and blur effects. This makes weapon recoil feel more solid and heightens the sense that a hit has actually been made. Also comes with an MCM. TK Dodge Very popular and must-have mod if you’re running several combat mods that increase game difficulty. Mod adds dodge rolls (forward-back-left-right) using hotkeys. Mod also has an MCM where you can re-configure the hotkeys and dodge roll stamina cost. Also install this lil fix (use the "TK Dodge Step Dodge Stack Fix" file). Xbox One gamepad addon available. TUDM - The Ultimate Dodge Mod One more great dodge mod, with own pros and cons. Pro is that it doesn't rely on FPS in terms of dodge responsibility (with TK dodge, if you have FPS below 40, dodge responsiveness can become worse, i.e. small delay appear) - so it never has a dodge delay after hotkey pressed no matter if you fps is 60 or 25. Most of people also like its animations more. Cons - less options for configuration. Choose this mod or TK Dodge - one or another. Also install the fix patch, and, if using it, Violens patch . Some patches are available here, as well as RS Children patch. You can see a video showcase of the mod here. Mortal Enemies
Remember how NPCs can turn to your direction just in the middle of weapon swing? Forget about this! Elemental Destruction Magic patch available. You can see a video showcase of the mod here.
Wounds
Simple mod focused exactly on injuries. More realistic/hard to heal comparing to Wildcat's injuries system (you should not use them both or disable WC injuries if you want this one, otherwise it will become messy). Optional UI addon available. For injured animations variety, look here . You can see a showcase of it here. Use this mod or the mod below.
Incremental Injuries
A more simple and performance-friendly (as it's an SKSE plugin) alternative to the Wounds mod above. Configurable via .ini file. You can also instal an extra addon on top.
Stamina Matters - No more useless stamina
Small yet pretty revolutionary mod and my personal recommendation for deep realism lovers. No attacking / blocking / jumping at zero stamina, rendering a complete new meaning for stamina in this game other than just a limiter for sprint / power attacks. Stamina is actually something that matters and you should put into consideration during combat now. Note: if you'll be using crossbows, install this version of the mod instead.
Precision - Accurate Melee Collisions
Physically accurate collisions for melee. Procedural, physics-based hit reactions. Weapon trails. Hitstop and camera shake. Recoils when hitting certain materials. Supports both first person and third person, as well as other NPCs and creatures. Custom collisions for new movesets. Supports both SE and AE. Note: if you're using other mods for the next: hitstop (Stop On Slash mod, for instance), weapon trails or recoil, it's recommended to remove those mods as same features in this mod will work better with it as they are inbuilt natively.Note: VR users should use this instead. Precision Creatures Fixes some bugs related to hit boxes and improves attacks precision of some creatures - for instance, werewolves and vampire lords. Requires the Precision mod itself. Arena Movement - MCO Rebalances the movement speed of the different classes. Akin to modern games like Hellblade, Assassin's Creed or the Witcher you can walk, you can sprint, you just can't run around. Intensify your combat by focusing on stamina management and dodging. Strike Obstruction Systems - Combat Blocking Overhaul Blocking can now mitigate damage from blocked Spells, Shouts, Enchants, and Poisons. Timed Blocks can provide greater mitigation, redirect parried arrows & spells, and inflict various debuffs. All features configurable via MCM. Weapon Arts This mod adds to Skyrim weapon-arts (or weapon-skills), which are based on equipped weapon type and its enchantment. If player character has enough magicka, then using a lesser power added by the mod (Z button), the combat skill with special effects and animations will be performed. Locational Damage(SKSE Plugin) actually working, light-weight and finally really [stable] locational damage mod for Skyrim. Fully configurable via the .INI file. When using with combat mods like Wildcat, either disable locational damage in UC and/or injuries in WC, or set this mod effect chances to very low - otherwise you'll be very OP. Note: My .INI file for this mod is available for download, suitable for mod manager installation. You can see a showcase of it here.
Smaller combat mods:
Hellblade - Timed Block
Replaces your usual 1 second Creation Kit timed or script lagging timed block with a 0.2 second behavior timed block. Removes the normal recoil and implements it only for timed block. Reimplements unused two-handed weapon recoil animation. You can watch a brief showcase here.
Realistic Melee Range
Simple as that. Decreases hit range for all melee weapons to be more realistic. Note: not needed with Precision mod.
Non-Exploitable Crossbow Reloading
Manual crossbow reload and optional stamina drain option during reloading in MCM.
Visceral Combat and Movement
Simple mod inspired by movement adjustment of Wildcat and other movement mods in addition to mortal enemies/attack commitment features.
No Saving in Combat
Simple as that, for hardcore fighters.
Dynamic Stamina - combat actions and movement use stamina
A simple, script-free mod that makes combat actions and movement consume stamina. Can be an alternative to similar systems in mods like Wildcat, if you don't want to use them for some reason.
Melee Power Knockback
Simply adds knockback + ragdoll to power attacks.
Knockout and Surrender - Non-Lethal Pacifist yielding options
You can configure how easily your enemies should surrender, and you can choose to knock them out rather than killing them.
Dynamic Sweep Attack
Adds ability to perform a sweep attack and bind it to a preferred hotkey in MCM.
Casting Aiming Reloading Impede Movement
Casting Magic, Aiming a Bow, and Reloading a Crossbow can all reduce movement speed by a configurable percentage. Has a version with MCM for configuration.
Stoppage of Staggerlock
To prevent NPC stagger-lock, staggers now trigger a perk granting stagger immunity for a short duration.
Taunt Your Enemies - Taunting Matters
Enemies taunt you, but it serves no purpose in vanilla. Well, no more! NPCs will get a bonus to their damage after taunting you, and now YOU can also taunt them as well. And even hiss at them!
Bow Charge Plus
Adds a Charge attack to the bow. You can also add a Dodge shot and Power Shot in the MCM settings.
Wait Your Turn - Enemy Circling Behaviour
A lightweight combat add-on mod that adds circling behaviour to enemies. Enemies will no longer attack all at once. Lightweight, compatible other combat overhaul mods, and can be turned off or tweaked using the MCM.
Dual Wield Parrying SKSE
Simple as that. An SKSE-based rework of an old version of the same mod. Showcase here.
omg1234 profile
For some tiny nice combat additions or fixes.
Witcher Dodge Replacer
TW3 dodge animation replacer for TK Dodge/TUDM mods.
Simple TKDodge Sidestep
Simple and quick dodge animations replacer for TK Dodge.
(SJG) Dual Wield Parrying Reimplementation
Simple parry mod for dual wielding/spellcasting.
ArrowBlock(REAL Deflect Arrow)
This mod allows you to block arrows and magic projectiles with your weapon or shield which will cost you some stamina/magicka. For making mod better balanced, I'd recommend to raise this cost value using xEdit, otherwise you can be near to invincible often for too low cost.
Disarmless
I personally always enjoyed this enemy ability, but if this bothers you - mod removes Disarm shout from either draugrs only, or the entire game including mods.
JS Immersive Tripwires
Tripwires will now have a chance tp trip up any NPC (including the Player) that run into them.
Shouting Obliterates Skeletons
Unrelenting Force now instantly kills weaker Skeletons and sends their bones flying. Three options in installer.
Stamina of Shooting ==NEW==
Keeping a bow drawn costs stamina. When you're out of stamina, the bow is let down.
Alchemy-dedicated mods. They technically are general gameplay improvements type, but alchemy is a very popular skill with some true gems for it, so I thought it would be nice to give them a separate section :)
Before you start, if you prefer the visual presentations and more in-depth review, you can take a look at some of best alchemy mods in action:
Let's start from a most (deservedly) known, complex and simply epic alchemy overhaul, which is close to be an essential mod for almost any walkthrough.
Complete Alchemy and Cooking Overhaul Amazing mod that completely overhauls Alchemy and Cooking. Alchemy has a great potential in Skyrim, but at the same time it was the most boring profession. And now CACO saves the day! Besides awesome overhauls mod even offers you to craft alchemical bombs as well as waxes, salves and bandages. You can also use field alchemy stuff to make potions & poisons anywhere you want. CACO also offfers basic needs and even inebriation effects. It has MCM and most of new features can be configured and turned off if you don’t need them. Patches/addons: Kryptopyr's Patch Hub Sacrosanct Blood Potion Patch
iWant Drinking Fountains for CACO
Alchemical Studies - CACO Ingredient Book
Upgraded Dragonflies for CACO
AddFish (For CACO)
Tamrielic Coffee and Tea (Growable Coffee and Tea)
Adds coffee, tea, and variations of drinks to Skyrim, as well as a form of growable bushes. Also grab the fix (convert assets with CAO).
Bo-yo-yo-yo-yo.
Alchemy Potions and Food Adjustments Mod can be taken as "lite" version of CACO (use one or another, not both). Improves the consistency and balance of alchemy and potions in general as well as correcting some cheat-like features present in vanilla. Alchemy Plus One more "CACO-lite" kind of mod that basically adds many QOL features, but doesn't drastically change alchemy itself. If you're using Skyrim SE (1.5.97) version, also install this on top of the original mod and overwrite it. Skyrim Alchemy and Food Overhaul Another simple but good alternative, oriented on somewhat hardcore gameplay. Plenty of patches for popular mods available.Poisoning Extended A simple but revolutionary mod that allows you to poison your weapons multiple times to not make this annoying "menu-poison-back to game" action after each swing or shot and to actually see which exactly poison is applied and how many stacks left via cozy UI. Toxic - A Venom Mod
Toxic adds new alchemy ingredients to creatures who use venomous attacks, allowing you to use their venoms for your own poisons and antivenoms.
Skytoxin - Realistic Dangerous Poison
Potions and poisons get more realistic and dangerous. Great for roleplaying and survival.
Now, a few mods which are wrapped about making potions usage more thoughtful, double-edged, similar to how it was done in Witcher games. These are absolutely optional as they, ofc, will make game harder. Choose one:
Toxicity - A Witcher-like Toxicity System Mod puts a soft limit on the number of potions that could be consumed at once. Drinking too many potions will cause your toxicity level to rise and will eventually cause you to lose your balance and produce hallucinations in the form of visual effects. It's also compatible with everything out of the box. Chasing the Dragon - Toxicity and Addiction A more advanced, feature-packed Toxicity mode, built as a successor to the mod above (and so ofc, use one or another). You can see my review of it here. Potion Tolerance
A more simple and "forgiving" yet immersive alternative to previous mod to make potions usage less "spamming" and more realistic, introducing sort of alchemical diminishing. While under the effect of potions, your tolerance will gradually increase, decreasing the effectiveness of subsequent potions. Tolerance will gradually return to normal after all alchemical effects wear off.
Good.
Mealtime - A simple ESO inspired Food Overhaul
Simple and great food overhauls that makes food functionality less stupid and actually useful as a long-therm secondary buffs system. Only thing I'd recommend to tweak in it is to decrease Disease Resistance bonuses (you can do this in xEdit).
Technicolor Alchemy Overhaul - Unique Alchemy Plants for Skyrim
Not an overhaul, but a huge addon more likely - this mod adds over 3000 (80 types) of hand-placed plants over Skyrim, with own alchemical ingredients. Compatible with CACO. Note: Test properly if you're using landscape overhauls and static flora addons.
Smart Optimal Salves - Optimal Potion Hotkey MCM
Use MCM to bind hotkeys for the most appropriate health, stamina, and magicka potions.
Alchemist Compendium
Another simple yet immersive mod. Mod adds a reference book, listing all Skyrim ingredients and their 4 effects. No more blind experimenting and wasting expensive ingredients on failed potions. Now you can look up the ingredient in your reference book in your inventory like a real student. On the other hand, this may also be somewhat cheating/"spoiler'ish" to some players, so use to your own preference.
Alchemical Treatise (with mod support)
This mod adds a series of alchemy books that teach the effects of each ingredient in them, placed at lore-friendly locations around Skyrim, that have in-built support for several popular mods that add ingredients including CACO, Beasts of Tamriel, Immersive Creatures and Skybirds.
Alchemy Additions
Adds the ability to craft ingredients at a new crafting station. New ingredients and effects as well.
x Pine Resin
Souls-like item mod. Adds consumable items which can enchant weapons temporarily such like pine resin of Soul series.
Upgrade Old Potions
Combine lesser vanilla potions and poisons into upgraded versions.
Creep Cluster Lazy Fix
Just a weird workaround for a weird bug - Creep Cluster harvesting fix.
Craftable Hearthfire Planters - Campfire addon
Adds craftable Hearthfire Planters players can use to decorate and expand their gardens or homes. Requires Campfire.
Better Crafted Potions
This mod changes crafted potions models and names to match the closest leveled loot potion.
Less valuable player made potions
Player made potions are absurdly valuable. This mod reduces how much they sell for without impacting the price of potions merchants sell.
Craftable Perfumes and Colognes
Allows you to craft scents for a boost in speechcraft and other miscellaneous skills based on the scent.
Recipe Auto-Learn
SKSE plugin for Skyrim that makes recipes useful by allowing the player to automatically learn ingredient effects when reading recipes and corrects all recipes to show the correct ingredients. Showcase here.
Alchemy Recipe Expansion
Expands the available recipes in the base game with unused alchemy effects, while thoughtfully integrating the DLC content.
Simplicity of Seeding
Make Hearthfire Planters faster, easier to use, and less stupid by feturing several fixes and QOL improvements.
Varietea - Yet Another Tea Drinking Mod
Adds nearly 20 new teas. Variety is spicy and all that.
CHOCOLATE
Did you know the Nords canonically make chocolate? This mod introduces some 30+ types of chocolate that you can actually bite in half.
Cook More Vanilla Food
Does it ever frustrate you that you can't make your own baked potatoes or grilled leeks? Well, now you can. Salt optional.
Hanyah's Plantable Jarrin Root
Makes Jarrin Root from Dark Brotherhood quest plantable as any other plant on HearthFire's dirt emplacements.
Make Moon Sugar
Buy necessary ingredients and use a special brewer to make famous moon sugar.
Respectable Inventory -- Well-Stocked Alchemists
Alchemists now have a complete stock of ingredients and potions for sale. For me personally, this can and most likely will make game too easy, but many people may like it for sure.
Apothecary Inventory Rebuild
A more complex and somewhat less "making game easy" alternative to mod above.
The Alchemist's Cookbook
Find recipes for any useful combination of ingredients, giving you a new way to learn effects and master Skyrim's Alchemy system. Note: Read the "Bugs" section post about how to fix the FOMOD installer.
Blacksmith and Enchanter's Potions Enhancements
Increases duration of named potions, simple as that. I'd personally recommend to use exactly the "E and S Potions Duration Only" version.
White Phial - Tweaks and Enhancements
This mod allows you to assign any potion to the White Phial, so it refills using that potion's effects.
Lotus Poison
Discover secrets of sophisticated poison making. New dialogue lines are also voiced.
Plantable Nirnroot
This small mod allow you to plant Nirnroot and Crimson Nirnroot if you have completed "A Return To Your Roots".
Ring Of Pure Mixtures Improved
Pretty much logical buff for the ring, as for me.
Realistic Skooma
This mod makes Skooma (and Redwater Skooma) more potent and more dangerous to use.
Collect Ivy
Because why not? Serves as an additional alchemical ingredient.
More enemies, more sudden encounters, more civil war battles, more neutral NPCs as well. Please remember: big amount of population mods together with heavy-modded gameplay setup may overload your game and cause instability and script lags. To avoid this - install population mods one by one and check your performance ingame, testing affected areas like cities, forts or faction battles.
Inconsequential NPCs This mod is something game should have from day one - it's simply essential. It's adding various NPCs here and there in Skyrim, greatly fitting the city/town/region - you will never even think these NPCs are from the mod as they are acting absolutely seamlessly. Carriages now finally have guards, there are skooma dealers and flower girls in Riften, much more mercenaries, college studends, tavern patrons, workers, towncriers and much more. And, it works just fine in SE after a simple CAO conversion (donwload the mod archive somewhere manually, unpack it, extract BSA archive with CAO, convert meshes/textures, zip the mod back, add to your manager and install as usually).
Some patches/tweaks for it:
Inconsequential NPCs Tweaks
A few optional tweaks for the mod - read the mod page.
Inconsequential NPCs - Crier Begone
Yup. Minus the annoying (for some players) dude.
Inconsequential NPCs Visual Overhaul
Improved look on NPCs in the mod. Download manually, unzip, optimize assets with CAO, zip the mod back, add to your mod manager and install as usually, overwriting the files from the original mod itself.
Armors/clothes improvement for some NPCs
LE mod. Works just fine in SE as is, no conversion needed.
Guards Armor Replacer Patch
Khajiit Speak Patch Interesting NPCs The biggest NPC mod ever made, an absolute titan between all of them. While Inconsequential NPCs is focusing on "not so noticable" immersive NPC addition to "fill" the gaps in game, Interesting NPCs adds characters with own stories, often with questlines and all are fully-voiced. Over 250+ fully voiced NPCs, 25+ followers, 15+ marriage NPCs, and 50+ quests. 3DNPC is like a game inside a game in meaning of size. The dialogue choices allow you to role-play, providing humor and depth to each conversation. You can be a jerk or a jester, a white knight or an assassin, as the most important character is you. Note: While the mod itself is stable, you should take into account that it adds really a lot of new NPCs and if you're planning to use many population mods at the same time, test the game deeply before starting an actual walkthrough to be sure game performance is not affected badly with too many NPCs added. Also install the aggression fix.
Patches/addons for: Interesting NPCs and WACCF Outfits Patch Cuyima Interesting NPCs Tragedian's Interesting NPCs - 3DNPC Followers Reimagined Interesting NPCs Visual Overhaul Interesting NPCs Zora Customizer Project ja-Kha'jay- Interesting NPCs Khajiit Addon
Snazzy Items for Interesting NPCs
Interesting NPC's Imperious Patch
Skyrim's Got Talent Patch
The Great Town of Ivarstead - 3DNPC Patch
The Great Village of Mixwater Mill Interesting NPCs Patch Citizens of Tamriel A tribute to old-school RPGs that adds some much-needed life to Skyrim's NPCs. Features all new, fully-voiced characters, branching dialogue and more. My personal recommendation. Also grab a visual upgrade for its NPCs. RS Children patch available. Also, to disable a few NPCs whos presence can be arguably/weird, ues this patch
.
Denizens of Morthal - Dialogue and Character Expander
Uses carefully spliced and re-purposed dialogue to allow the citizens of Morthal to interact with each another. Along with giving more immersive schedules to the inhabitants, it also expands the skills and backstories of Benor, Eisa Blackthorn, Valdimar and Erandur.
Northern Encounters
Awesome encounter mod that also adds lore-based storylines alongside with the new encounters.
Extended Encounters
A fresh encounter mod from author of well-known Wyrmstooth mod. Travel encounters and ambushes, sleep encounters and more - but most noticeably and what makes this mod to stand out, not being just "yet another encounter mod" is a wide system of immersive non-combat encounters (or at least not related to combat with player directly). City guard chasing a local thief, executioners doing their job at town squares (and resting in temple after that at evening), street performers and so much more! Lastly, it also makes bandits to actually raid cities from time to time, as well as mercenaries and adventurers to actually travel accross Skyrim so can see them hunting or dealing with local thugs. On top of that all, mod is fully configurable in MCM. To me personally, it became a lifetime denizen of my load order and an essential mod. You can a see a showcase of it here.
Full Random NPC Pack
Adds 600 ++ new NPCs to the random lists of bandits, guards, soldiers, vampires and others. The mod also adds a small number of travelers who are, in vanilla game, rarely found throughout Skyrim.
Civil War Deserters
Adds a new deserter enemy type that you can encounter in specific locations across Skyrim.
Bandit Hermits
20 new locations with Bandit Hermits, in far locations, radiant enabled, make some areas less empty.
Dark Brotherhood Assassins - Improvements
Reintroduces a new ranged type of assassin that was cut from the game, adds new NPCs for added racial diversity and increases their overall power based on player level for better scaling into higher levels
MINPCs (More Immersive NPCs)
A mod that adds many new NPC's that wander organically throughout Skyrim using custom AI packages, in an attempt to make traveling more dangerous, and the roads less empty. Note: It's recommended to delete Bandit Raiders from it in xEdit.
Populated Solstheim
More NPCs for settlements at Solstheim.
BUVARP SE RE - Barely Used Vanilla Actors Recycle Project
Updated and polished version of a great mod. Now, without hardcoded requirements many players would never use to begin with. Gives new purposes to NPCs that are barely used in vanilla game. Some patches here .
dkdoubledub profile
For a few tiny but immersive mods adding NPCs here and there, logically placed.
Skyrim Belongs to the Nords - A Population Mod
Really great and pretty underrated, all-in-one make-Skyrim-more-populated mod. It adds new citizens and peasants, labourers, dockworkers, beggars, miners, villagers and thugs to settlements and near them.Note: It's recommended to not use Populated Cities mod (below) together with this mod, as this may result in too much overcrowded settlements. DFB - Random Encounters - MCM Great and stable encounters mod from Skyrim Immersive Creatures author with cozy MCM, through which you can control hundreds of spawn across dozens of spawn types. Traveling Merchant Caravans Adds 7 Non-Khajiit Caravans to Skyrim. They travel between cities and inns and are always open to trade. Each caravan consists of 3 NPCs, a merchant, commoner and guard (similar to the the Fallout series) and each merchant specializes in a specific type of good. Note: Populated Lands Roads Paths does the same thing - this mod is basically for those who don't want the rest from it. Hand Placed Enemies - More populated spawns dungeons and POIs Adds 1542 Hand-placed Enemies to Skyrims dungeons and POIs (both interior and exterior zones). Emphasis was placed on strategic and immersive locations. (Archers on high ground, melee by doors). Care was given for a variety of battle sizes and enemy encounters. Small rooms have smaller number of spawns, larger rooms and forts have larger numbers. Ghosts Of The Deathbells
Adds a 1% chance of encountering a non-hostile ghost upon picking a deathbell. Ghosts will say a greetings line and then vanish.
Now goes the Populated mods series - more travellers, more bandits in forts, monsters in dungeons etc.
Populated Lands Roads Paths
Populated Forts Towers Places
Populated Dungeons Caves Ruins
Populated Skyrim Prisons Cells
Nice.
Extra Guards
Stands for its name.
Various completely new gameplay features and additions - many things that this game lacked, features inspired by other RPGs, vanilla mechanics expanded by new stuff. Combat and absolutely "civil" related as well.
ESO Skyshards ESO Skyshards places several shards throughout the province of Skyrim, including Dawnguard areas and Solstheim. Collect them to gain extra perk points. Use this one (smaller/simpler approach) or the mod below. Skyshards Not-so-lore-friendly (because objects added never existed in Skyrim, but added from ESO), but pretty original mod. This mod adds 108 Skyshards, which are objects containing a magical essence that can be absorbed, throughout the 9 holds. After X Skyshards are absorbed, you will gain 1 (default value, can be configured) perk point that you can invest as you please. This may make your character pretty OP in some conditions (default amount is 3 but can be configured), but if used wisely with balanced settings (especially if you already have more perk points per level from Uncapper, or more perk points from Ordinator optional file), this mod can be really unique addition to your leveling and a good motivation for wilderness exploration. ENB particle light patch available. Use this one or the mod above. Magic Duel - Reborn This mod allows you to engage magic duels with your enemies. If you want some more epicness for your mage playthrough - try it for sure. You can duel both NPCs and dragons. For dragon magic duel becomes shout duel and that’s pretty immersive. Mod also contains ingame book through which you can configure it. Subclasses of Skyrim A class expansion mod that introduces a standalone "Destiny" perk system to broaden your character build and improve roleplaying. Outfit NPCs
A port of super-cool and underrated Skyrim LE mod that simply allows you to gift any outfit to any NPC, which they will immediately equip.
RE - Real Estate Continued
Outside of most buildings, you'll find a Property Sign. Interact with it to buy, sell and rent properties, from which you'll earn income. Use a Master Ledger to review your current status. You need also to keep it up to date, to do so you just need to select the "Ledger's quill" from your inventory. Collect your income from Safes located in each jarl's palace. The safes are locked, so that no thieves will steal your rent. The key is automatically given to the player during the tutorial. Mod also has MCM to adjust settings.
Hidden Treasures
200 hidden lootable chests with a unique design for you to discover all around Skyrim.
The Egg Of Time - Dwemer artifacts from Morrowind
10 dwemer artifacts from Morrowind. Will you be able to find them all?
Tavern Games - Mini Games in Skyrim
Immersive mod inspired by Witcher series that adds several mini-games.
Medium Armors - True Equipment Overhaul
Technically an armor mod, but it adds compeltely new armor type, medium armor, as per older TES games. Around 20 new medium armor sets, integrated in leveled lists.
Draw - A Dueling Mod
Settle your conflicts like a real Nord! Single combat with any npc, no damaged faction relations, no strings attached. Killing your opponent is optional.
Taxes of the Nine Holds
This mod adds a tax system to Skyrim, fully customisable with an MCM. The tax system operates on a Hold basis, so effectively you may pay up to 9 separate taxes.
Super Simple Lock Bash
Simple mod that allows you to bash lock with a success chances based on your level, weapon skill, weapon quality, lock difficulty and some luck.
Repair Kit - Animated Portable Tempering
Temper armor and weapons on the go. Repair kits can be bought at any blacksmith. Note: not needed if you have the Vitrium mod - same feature is included there.
Take a Peek - New Stealth Mechanic
What's going on behind that door? Wondering if there's an angry troll on the other side? Now you get to know without actually going through the door.
Dynamic Things Alternative - Base Object Swapper
Interact with previously static items like archery targets, crates, mammoth skulls, taproots, and more. Improved version of the original mod.
LandLord
Amazing mod that allows you to invest in different business in Skyrim to receive long-term profit. You can also hire employees to increase you income and mercenaries to defend you business from bandits (if you are too cool to do this yourself).
Wash That Blood Off 2
Wash that blood off and clean your armor by taking a swim. An improved version of the mod.
Lawbringer
Bring order to a chaotic world, making a real difference in Skyrim as you go about saving it. Claim bandit strongholds for the faction of your choice to keep the bandits from coming back, making Skyrim a safer place. Also install a fix . Optional addons available here and here to further expand its functionality.
Skyrim Realistic Conquering - All In One
A smilar mod to create even bigger coverage of this functionality across the game world. Using Fort Takeovers Framework, SRC makes immersive changes to multiple locations after you clear them. To make it compatible with Lawbringer, use its modular installer to remove unwanted locations.
Zebsirious - Tamrielic Races of Skyrim
Zebsirious introduces 7 new, Imperious-inspired playable races to Skyrim, bringing the total to 17. You can watch my review of the mod here.
Lost Races of Aetherius
Adds Ayleid, Dwemer, Maormer, Snow Elf, and Tsaesci playable races to the game, each with own features and abilities. Note: Aetherius mod is an actual requirement for this mod to work - just mod author subjective recommendation. Mod works just fine with any other race overhaul (or without any at all). Optionally, install this tweak .
The Ancient Falmer - A Snow Elf Race
Adds a new playable Snow Elf race, overhauls Dawnguard's Snow Elves, introduces optional Snow Elf followers to the game, and adds craftable Ancient Falmer weapons to the leveled lists and world. Some patches available.
The Timelost Dwemer - A Deep Elf Race
Adds a new playable Timelost Dwemer race with unique chronokinetic powers, two dwemer followers, up to 28 varieties of craftable automatons, and many new and powerful trinkets, weapons, and armor to obliterate your enemies with. Some patches available, as well as here .
Dawi (Dwarf) - Playable Race (Warhammer Fantasy)
Adds a new playable race: Dawi (Dwarf). Includes optional Dwarf voice.
Races of Nirn - Kapo'tun
Now you'll be able to play as the Tiger-folk from akavir, with own racial abilities.
RaceCompatibility - Dialog Changes
Changes (some) race checks in dialog to include (some) custom races.
Teleportation Cubes
Make mischief with fully functional teleporters, inspired by the pyramids from Divinity: Original Sin.
Throwing Weapons - Skill and Perks Tree
A fresh mod from the same author, but now giving you working throwing weapon perks! some of "high tier" perks may be a bit OP, as for me. Requirements are the same as for the mod above.
L.V.X Magick's - Boats
Fully workable, buildable boats to use on all major bodies of water in Skyrim, & Solstheim.
Stonehall Orphanage
Too many adoptable children? Don't want to adopt? Send the adoptable children to the Stonehall Orphanage in Markarth. Larger staff, more beds, this orphanage can host up to 24 kids.
Skyshade - Create Your Own Paintings
Create paintings of anything you can see that can then be placed anywhere you like.
Skald's Mail - A Courier Alternative
Replaces the courier system with mailboxes you can rent or purchase, and includes extra features such as mail-order deliveries from shops, shipping items long distances, and sending off gear to be improved. LOTD patch available.
Special Perks from Questing
Innovative, immersive mod that gives the player new unique perks and powers upon completion of major and guild quest lines - similar to how it was inmplemented in Fallout New Vegas. You can watch a review here.
Vampire Lords Can Fly (With Collision) Is it flying or falling with style? Well, it's technically jumping, but Vampire Lords can now fly. Now without needing to use the "no collision" trick or any heavy scripts. It just flies!
Skyrim Cut Content Restoration
This mod restores many pieces of cut content, such as some misc quests, locations, items, NPCs, and two spells. Attempting to both remain faithful to Bethesda’s original vision and the final release of the vanilla game.
New Treasure Hunt
Adds 13 new hand-drawn treasure maps and treasures hidden across Skyrim.
Triple Triad Card Game in Skyrim
Ever wanted Skyrim to have its own Gwent analogue? Here you go :)
Training Dummies and Targets
This mod allows you to practice and improve your combat skills on the practice dummies in Skyrim.
Kinghall Orphanage
Stonehall Orphanage
Bloodhall Orphanage
Several similar mods from the same author, allowing you to host your own orphanage to help children. What could be better?
Sweeping Organizes Stuff - Use Broom to Clean Mess
Use broom to clean up physics mess.
INTERACT - BUILD - DECORATE
The decorating, furniture building, cabin building, camp making, corpse management, trophy making and more.
Hidespots
Awesome mod inspired by Assassins Creed. You can hide in different containers and then perform stealthy actions to nearby objects or NPCs.
Custom Skills - Hand To Hand
Add new perk tree of Hand-to-Hand. Also grab the English translation here.
Bone Grinder
What is it to do with all those bones like human skull, troll skull, mammoth tusk, horker tusk, goat horn, dragon bone, dragon scale and dragon hearth scale?
Dig up Dragon Bones and Scales
Dig up dragon bones and scales from burial mounds. Gain access to bones and scales without starting the main quest or fighting dragons.
Collect Bodies and Bear Traps
Requested by faffman. Allows the player to collect dead bodies. Other file allows bear trap collection. Note: Ordinator has fully functional perks related to traps, works much better and immersive.
Teach Followers Spells Through Spell Tomes
Allows you to teach spells to followers by giving them spell tomes.
Simply Climb
Adds ability to climb. Doesn't have animations though.
Fury - Animal Taming of Skyrim ==NEW==
Fury adds the ability to tame, feed and train animals to Skyrim. Interact with an animal (if hostile: damage it first) and feed it some of its favourite food to make it your friend. Fury integrates with vanilla perks and works with Ordinator/Vokrii as well.
A Closer Look
Adds a key to zoom your camera in. Includes MCM for configuration.
Immersion is very "wide" term in gaming. Long story short, it's everything that makes your game realistic (i.e. similar to real life) in some way - needs system, camping, weather affecting character warmth and health, realistic physical abilities, AI packages and so on. Everything to make you feel not just playing a character in game, but to "feel" this game better and have better interaction with the world around you.
Want your character to have realistic needs in sleep, eating and drinking? Wanna have Skyrim cold weathers to actually impact your character and game world? Wanna have realistic hunting? If everything or some from this is what you're thinking about, think no more and dive into this section.
Before you start, if you prefer the visual presentations and more in-depth review, you can take a look at some of best immersion mods in action:
First of all, the camping/resting section - mods allowing you to rest and relax in an immersive way, setup your camps and do stuff there. Can vary in complexity.
Campfire - Complete Camping System Amazing mod that adds camping system to Skyrim. Search or buy resources, improve your camping skills (with a help of new custom perk trees), and make a camp with a warm fire to rest in any place of Skyrim. Addons/Patches: Tentapalooza for Campfire ElSopa - Campfire HD Warm Drinks - Simple Tea And Coffee Recipes - for Campfire
Gather Wilderness Resources - A plugin for Campfire
Campfire Collectable Deadwood and Branches
Recommended to get the BOS (Base Object Swapper) version.
Eremite Fixes & Patches
Campfire Spooning
Cuyi's Campfire Backpacks
Cheery Crafting - Campfire Edition
Campfire - Torch fix
Dark Souls style campfire replacer
NPCs backpacks addon
Good.
Campsite
A very simple and lightweight alternative to Campfire.
Dynamic Campsites ==NEW==
Another simple, yet truly creative idea and camping alternative. This mod will provide the user with an interactive craftable item under the misc tab, which when interacted with will offer the option of setting up camp or refusing. Accepting will teleport the user to a cell where a camp has been created to thematically match your current location. To exit, simply interact with the Exit prompt in the area. That's it!
Simple Bedroll
A basic craftable, portable bedroll. Alternatively, you can get this instead.Bathing in Skyrim Special Edition - Unofficial Conversion Allows you to bathe in the waters of Skyrim. Compatible with DLCs, new land mods and mods like Frostbite/iNEED. Super Simple Bathing An indeed super lite alternative. Simple Inn Bath
One more simple alternative.
Great! now directly the "needs" mods - your character need to eat, drink and sleep, and respective ingame bonuses/penalties. Choose one.
iNeed - Food Water and Sleep - Continued
The most famours (deservedly so) basic needs mod. It adds hunger/thirst/sleep system so finally food and drinks become valuable in your playthrough. It also offers intuitive system of widgets to inform you about current needs status. It’s very high-compatible with most popular mods and greatly customizable in MCM. It’s more immersive, has more features and have better design (Nines bless the widgets!) than Realistic Needs and Diseases in my opinion and also has much better compatibility with other mods, but if you like RnD more - install it instead.Note #1: please make sure to endorse the original mod.
Note #2: do [NOT] install/use Dangerous Diseases plugin - it was many times reported for causing crashes. Addons/Patches: CACO patch Another CACO/Be A Milk Drinker patches
Falskaar patch
Beasts of Tamriel patch
Fruits addon
Kee-poo!
Realistic Needs and Diseases All-In-One for USSEP
Another great basic needs mod. Choose this one or INEED. Also take a look at Dawn of Skyrim patch and few fruits addon.
Vitality Mode - Basic Needs - Eat Drink and Sleep
Similar to Frostbite, this one is a lightweight sleep-hunger-thirst alternative to iNEED/RnD. My personal favourite to pick if your load order can't handle iNeed, but you still want something feature-packed.
Last Seed - Primary Needs Wellness Disease
Initially made by a talented Chesko (Campfire, Frostfall), but not finished - as for today, Last Seed is absolutely playable. It approaches primary needs, wellness, and diseases in own way. Mod still has some bugs here and there, but it's definitely worth to try it amongst other similar mods.Patches/addons:
Last Seed - Craftable Cure Potions Add-on
Last Seed - Easy WheelMenu
Invoke Last Seed lesser powers directly from an EasyWheel menu.
Last Seed - Inn Meals
Last Seed - Water Immersive Needs - For The Conscientious Modder
Even more simple approach, very lightweight too.
Super Simple Needs
Minimum minimorium alternative.
Frost survival:
Frostbite As much as I personally love Frostfall, how huge and complex it is, it's very buggy in SE due to it being a port (likely, hastily made one) in addition to being very script-heavy, so it's not recommended for SE. That's why it's not listed in SE guide and I humbly recommend you to look at this fresh, lightweight, highly compatible and constanly updated mod that can be considered a simplier and vastly more safe alternative to Frostfall. Patches for Cloaks of Skyrim and Winter Is Coming available here.
Various other survival immersion mods - from hardcore effects to purely cosmetic ones:
R.A.S.S. Rain Ash And Snow Shaders - Wet Frost Cold Dust A must-have mod for any survival immersion fan! Complex, yet pretty lightweight mod which adds visual effects to the Player and NPCs during certain conditions. Ash, wetness, cold and frost effects, bubbles of exhaling underwater etc. This mod is doing close to the same what Wet and Cold does, but much more light in terms of implementation, being very lightweight. Grab the better textures for it. You can a see a showcase of it here. Skyrim is Cold If you've ever wondered how many NPCs can walk around with only a few rags on while the temperature is below zero then this is the mod for you. Soaking Wet - Character Wetness Effect An SKSE plugin that makes characters and their gear appear wet when in water and optionally in the rain or snow. Works on player and NPCs with seamless soak/dry transitions and adjustable shine level. Good complementary mod to go with R.A.S.S. Dark Corners of Nirn - Stress A unique survival mod inspired by the game "Darkest Dungeon," bringing certain aspects of the Stress mechanic from that game to the world of Skyrim. Unlike other "needs" mods, DCoN focuses on mental well-being, rather than bodily needs. Configurable in MCM. Fish Anywhere With Water
Fish anywhere as long you are facing a nearby body of water. Use this one or the mod below.
Simple Fishing Overhaul ==NEW==
Fish in third person! Fish in first person! Fish in... second person? Fish in Fish Person! OH, and new lines for the fishing quests and other fishing enhancements. A simple yet immersive fishing mod from talented Jayserpa. Use this one or the mod above.
Exhaustion
This is a simple mod that plays audible breaths from your character when your health/stamina/magicka drops below a certain percentage.
Nordic Cooking
Mealtime - a Food and Recipe Mod
Two great mods that add plenty of new food recipes, compatible with INEED/CACO.
Skyrim Food Expanded
New soups and pies (and recipes for them).
Loki's Wade In Water (Redone)
SKSE Plugin to make water slow actors (NPCs and yourself) down depending on how much of them is submerged. Take into account that the original mod has to be installed first.
Use Those Blankets
Skyrim is cold. Why doesn't anyone use a blanket while sleeping? Or you know, get inside their bedroll?! This mod aims to fix this, with support for both NPCs and the player. Also looks at some addons here and here.
Stop Overencumbered Scavenging
Carry Weight is now more of a firm limit. When over-encumbered looted items are returned to their containers or dropped on the ground.
Simple Encumbrance Effect
Simple yet immersive encumbrance effect to increase realism when the player character is over-encumbered. Lightweight and compatible with other mods.
Immersive Swimming
Makes swimming feel more immersive and somewhat realistic. Geared towards simplicity and maximum compatibility, while preserving the much-needed features for a more immersive and somewhat realistic swimming experience.
Gourmet Gourds
Adds some new cooking recipes using gourds.
General Stores sells Salt and Flour
Simple as that. May be very useful when playing with needs mods.
Wood Frame Backpacks
Several original and super-immersive backpacks.
Various other immersion mods that are not related with survival and needs directly, but greatly improving various other aspects of the game - dialogues, birds, better questing and objectives, lore-related things, city lights and more.
Travel related mods:
Carriage and Ferry Travel Overhaul A lightweight but immersive overhaul of both the vanilla Skyrim carriage system and Dawnguard's ferry system, making the whole travelling system of Skyrim much more comfortable and realistic. No dirty records or script, no navmesh edits - clean, simple and effective. Also grab the improvement addon here and a tiny fix
.Helgen Reborn patch and some tiny patches here, here
and here (several patches in author's profile) are available. Also if you're an ultra-perfectionist, grab this tiny fix too.Note: if you're using Inconsequential NPCs mod, grab the patch from LE verison of CFTO here
- it works just fine in SE.
Detailed Carriages 2.0
Apperance variety for Skyrim carriages and different immersive details added to them. Compatible with CFTO and other popupar carriage-related mods.
Wayshrines of Tamriel
A more simple and lightweight wayshrine fast travel system.
Liminal Bridges - A portal mod
Inspired by the eluvians in the Dragon Age universe, Liminal Bridges is a different take on the traditional teleportation and portal mods.
Point The Way
Simple, but greatly immersive one. Road signs have been placed at several major intersections that were either lacking signs, or didn't have enough signs to indicate the full extent of where you could travel on a road.
Ask The Way
Another little yet immersive one - allows you to ask the way to certain places in city.
Fast Travel Cost
Fast traveling from the map now costs gold based on the distance traveled.
Fast Travel by Horse
Fast travel by horse.
Sojourn Over Signposts - Witcher-Style Fast Travel Alternative
Use signposts to fast travel. Normal fast travel is disabled. Compatible with new lands and mods that move or place signposts. Note: if the mod will stop working at some point, refer to the solution in the sticky comment at the mod page.
Delphine's Map Reveals Dragon Mounds
This mod adds map markers to all dragon burial mounds around Skyrim. When you have Delphine's map in your inventory, you'll have to click it (like you were equipping it.) Then the markers will be enabled and automatically revealed to you as undiscovered map markers. Atlas Map Markers patch available.
Dynamic Cart Horses
Dynamic texture replacer for carriage horses.
Helps To Have A Map
This mod restricts using the map menu. You'll need to have a physical map in your inventory, in order to open the map menu. A few patches available.
No Crime Teleport
Disables the teleportation when paying off bounty. Note: not needed if you're using Crime Overhaul.
Immersive Stables
Tired of your horses returning to the place you bought them from? Stable your horses anywhere, and they will return there when dismissed.
The Ferrymen
An overhaul to the ferrymen of Skyrim that makes them come to life. Compatible with CFTO.
The Coachmen
Similar mod from the same author, for the carriage drivers. Compatible with CFTO as well.
Bromjunaar Journal
Adds a journal in Labyrinthian giving direction on where to locate all eight Dragon Priest masks.
WordWalls of Skyrim
Adds a collection of journals that tells locations of all of the word walls.
Road Signs Fast Travel
Allows to fast travel to town and cities from road signs.
Khajiit Has Wares - A Caravan Camp Overhaul
Adds new objects around the Khajiit Caravan Camps for some exotic flair.
Snowy Ships for Snowy Regions ==NEW==
Gets all longboats and large ships snowy in snowy environments.
TMD The Rift Leaves ==NEW==
Leaves to the Rift (including fallen leaves on water), because it actually makes sense.
Animated Ships ==NEW==
NPCs sail their ship through ports, beaches and sea. Player can take them too. Compatibility patches here.
Animated Carriage ==NEW==
NPCs travelling by carriage on the road. And extra routes addon here .
Striding Silt Strider ==NEW==
Over 11 years after DLC release, that's finally possible. Silt striders start to stride Solstheim.
Better Skyrim Parties ==NEW==
What it says. Better (read - more crowded and believeable) Skyrim parties, weddings, and a funeral meetings.
Dialogue/objectives/notifications mods:
Instantly Skip Dialogue This SKSE plugin allows the player to skip dialogue instantly, bypassing the 750 millisecond delay. This includes dialogue that's normally unskippable (Hermaeus Mora, Molag Bal, Augur of Dunlain, etc). Relationship Dialogue Overhaul Mod adds more than 5000 voiced lines of dialogues. All lines are voiced using the original voices from the game and consists of existing lines that have been added in new and suitable situations, as well as completely new dialogues created by editing multiple lines together to form brand new ones. Friends talk to you more like friends. Followers have more much to say when speaking to them. If your spouse is a follower, he/she will talk to like a spouse instead of a generic follower. NPCs who dislike you (not bandits and forsworn, but citizens of towns and cities) will have more insults to say and may even completely stop talking to you if you continue to pester them.
Note: Install the update with MCM and make sure to peek at Files tab and install respective patches needed. Optional (but recommended) khajiit look addon here
.
Guard Dialogue Overhaul
Fixed and improved version of popular mod. Guard Dialogue Overhaul alters the guards dialogues, changing it from something that breaks your immersion in the world of Skyrim to something that actually increases it. You can also install an MCM addon to control some of the features in it.
Extended Guard Dialogue ==NEW==
Ever more voiced lines for city guards. Compatible with GDO mod above.
Extended Bandit Dialogue ==NEW==
From the same author - now for bandits to have a bit more soul in them.
Realistic Conversations
Every social logic in Skyrim for NPC is changed, they talk more often to each others. And will less likely greet to you from a distance, they will also greet less often too, making them to not act as much as robots. NPCs are also more clever and will know for example if they talked to a NPC and will therefore talk to another or not talk at all. Compatible with both mods above.
Misc Dialogue Edits
This mod improves dialogue that other mods don't, contributing to make conversations in Skyrim as plausible and immersive as possible, while taking compatibility into account. Everything here is intended to feel like it could have been part of the vanilla game all along, but it also supports alternate start mods. Mod patches are
More Dialogue Options
A mod from the same author which adds dialogue options in a simple and immersive way to improve various conversations in the vanilla game. The responses are all voiced by using the original voice files of the game. The new options are meant to feel like they should have been in the game all along. Mod patches are
More to Say
You have more to say. NPCs have more to say. This mod adds miscellaneous inconsequential dialogue to existing NPCs. Can be used with two mods above, RDO and most of dialogue mods in general. As it's completely standalone.
Hunters Not Bandits
NPC's will not use taunts or insults when fighting animals. Especially hunters will behave in a more realistic manner, as well as fixing the odd behavior where enemies could start using greetings and other unfitting dialogues right after they killed you. Compatible with RDO and GDO.
Sleeping Expanded - Animations and NPC reactions
Ever noticed how NPCs don't react at all to being woken up in the middle of the night? Or how characters stop breathing while they sleep? Or.. how it takes them YEARS to get in and out of bed? Well, no more! WAKE UP, JARL BALGRUUF - Sleeping Expanded is here! Interesting NPCs patch available.
Bandit Lines Expansion
Tired of hearing the same bandit lines over and over again? This mod provides 500 new spliced lines to bandits, giving each bandit prototype their own personality and making each of your encounters with them more unique, personal and unexpected. Also, if using these mods, grab patches for OBIS or Race Compatibility Dialogue.
Civil War Lines Expansion
This mod adds new lines to Imperials and Stormcloaks, giving them more personality and making them react to current events, their environment, the player, their enemies, their friends and more.
Forsworn and Thalmor Lines Expansion
Similar mod, for Forsworn and Thalmor NPCs. Requires both mods above.
Vampire Lines Expansion
Tired of hearing the same lines over and over again? This mod provides new spliced lines to (mostly) vampires, giving them more personality and making each of your encounters with them more unique, personal and unexpected.
Brawl Lines Expansion and Fixes
Fixes some issues with brawling dialogue, while also expanding it with new lines.
Dremora Lines Expansion
Significantly expands Dremora Lines, bringing new life to the most fiercesome warriors of the plane of Oblivion. 350 new lines and a total of 7 different voices. Make sure to install required mod here and (optionally, but recommended) optimized textures here.
Radiant Dialogue
Adds xVASynth generated radiant small talk for NPCs to engage in and new radiant children play scenes from existing dialogue lines.
Immersive Persuasion
A complete and immersive overhaul of vanilla persuasion dialogue. Mod patches are
NPCs React To Necromancy
Despite what the game and lore says, most often than not NPCs don't really react to necromancy in any way. You can walk into town with a corpse and no one bats an eye. With this mod, NPCs will now react in ways that reflect their bias against those that openly practice the dark arts.
NPCs React To Invisibility
You become invisible in front of people and no one bats an eye... Well, no more! With almost 300+ custom voiced reactions, NPCs will now react to both someone disappearing and someone materializing in front of them.
NPCs React To Frenzy ==NEW==
Makes NPCs react to Frenzy/Fury/Mayhem spells. Enemies will be surprised to see their friends turning against them and will say fitting lines.
Scared of Shootings ==NEW==
Weird how NPCs in vanilla were reacting on melee weapons or spells unsheathed, but not ranged weapons, amarite? NPCs will react to aiming bows and crossbows by complaining, fleeing, attacking, and reporting you to the guards.
Nightmares of Skyrim ==NEW==
Makes NPCs sometimes to have nightmares with reactions from other NPCs. Configurable (read the mod page for instructions).
NPCs Take Cover ==NEW==
This mod makes NPCs smarter and capable of dealing with the most cheesy strategy Skyrim has ever seen: shooting NPCs from locations they cannot reach. They will now hide properly and relocate if necessary, while also shaming you for using dirty tactics (with 200+ voiced reactions).
Face Sculptor Expanded ==NEW==
Makes the Face Sculptor feel like an actual NPC that belongs in the world. New fully voiced scenes, new AI schedules, the removal of bounties when you change your face and more.
Carriages and Stables Dialogue Bundle
Carriage drivers will randomly comment on the weather, their day, etc.
Immersive Rejections
How comes nobody ever rejects your marriage proposal? Now with immersive, hilarious voiced rejections. From "I'm not drunk enough" to "Sorry, we're better off as friends". Interesting NPCs patch available.
Switch Camera During Dialogue
Does exactly how it's named.
AdamDunmer profile
For multiple "Dialogue Expansion" mods that add many new dialogue lines to mostly "forgotten" factions or NPC groups. Also install typo fixes from here.
To Your Face SE-AE-VR
SKSE plugin that stops NPC comments unless they're directly facing the player.
Immersive Speech Dialogues
Vanilla speech dialogue options are overhauled to have more personality, suited for more immersive roleplaying.
Random Guard Dialogues
New funny and random voiced dialogues for guards.
Thalmor Dialogue and Quests
For those enjoying a Thalmor-themed playthrough, this mod adds many conversations for a Thalmor player character to have with the people of Skyrim, as well as some Thalmor-related short adventures.
YOT - Your Own Thoughts
This mod basically changes most(if not all) of the second person messages and texts in game and makes them 1st person.
Reflection - Level Up Messages
Reflection brings back the level up messages found in previous Elder Scrolls titles.
Even Better Quest Objectives - EBQO
This mod enhances the quest descriptions in the vanilla game so that you have a clear sense of where you are supposed to go and what you are supposed to do besides looking at the quest markers. Let's face it - the quest descriptions were quite bad, not specifying where you are supposed to go by themselves, and forcing you to play with the quest markers on all the time. This affects nearly 250 quest objectives/descriptions, spanning over 160 quests, editing descriptions that were either really vague or didn't exist at all. Quests Are In Skyrim patch available, as well as few other patches .
Better Intimidation
Replaces Skyrim's whimpy intimidation dialogues with something more fearsome. Showcase here.
Everything else you wished to have and everything you didn't even know about:
Lanterns of Skyrim Simple and immersive mod that add lanterns to main roads, villages, towns and settlements. The light sources of the lanterns are lit from 7pm to 7am. Once installed I just can’t play without it anymore. It’s especially good for people who play with weather/lighting mods/ENBs that have dark nights. Mod also has MCM through which you can control lanterns' working time and enable/disable lanterns in settlements for better compatibility. You also may like this addon for it. Please also make sure to endorse the original mod.
Lastly, there's also a standalone different (expanded and with lots of patches for popular mods) version of it available here. Also, there's a patch for JK's Riverfall Cottage here
.Note: if you're using Lanterns of Skyrim II, and also have Weathered Road Signs (with fix) installed, and experiencing random crashes when fast travelling to or approaching the settlements, install this patch after installing LOS II itself, and overwrite its own patch plugin. Wearable Lanterns Another great immersion mod from Chesko. May the light be always with you! Also grab the MCM fix . Improved Traps
Enemy NPCs will now pay attention when trap is triggered near them. Also, as you can remember, vanilla traps damage was barely noticable. this mod fixes this and makes traps much more dangerous. Note: "Mining Makes Noise" file is not needed as same and configurable option exists in CCOR MCM.
Solstheim Earthquakes
This mod adds earthquake events in Solstheim. It's customizable and it has sound and visual effects.
Destructible Skyrim - Base Object Swapper
The definitive realism mod that Skyrim should had have loooong ago. Works as it's named - makes you able to crush and destroy many game objects. Note: The mod is still in beta, meaning it's being developed atm, so test if properly with your mod setup before keeping it for a real walkthrough. Improved mod version based on Base Object Swapper.
Immersive Laundry
Adds decorative clothes lines and other washing-related items throughout Skyrim, for a touch of realism. Also make sure to install this improvement addon for it by Pfuscher.
Simpler Knock
A simplier analogue to popular "Simple Knock" mod which is sadly just broken in SE.
Simplest Knock
EVEN more simple. Yeah, for real.
Skyrim Is Windy
Skyrim is a windy place but there is no signs of any strong winds in Skyrim. This mod will fix that.
Bells of Skyrim
Mod adds bells to major skyrim towns and cities that will alarm citizens in case of danger, like dragon/vampire/bandit attacks.
Skyrim on Skooma
Tired of skooma being so boring? This mod turns skooma into a proper recreational substance with 69 possible scenarios, and a thousand different variations. Funny, yet still immersively immersive. MCM addon here.
Bring Out Your Dead
Adds proper burial sites for various unique NPCs found throughout Skyrim. Note: May cause clipping issues with settlement mods, so test before actually playing.
Heal Injured Guards
Adds the option to offer guards healing potions via dialogue to heal their wounds.
Pay Your Respects - bury the fallen NPCs
This simple mod allows you to bury fallen NPCs in Skyrim, friends and foes alike. MCM configurable.
Serana's Hood Fix with Animation
Adds a conditional animation for aucomatically wearing/taking off Serana's hood. Serana Dialogue Addon patch available.
Skyrim Souls RE - Updated
Realism lover? Don't want to "magically" pause the game when you're opening inventory or other game menus? Grab this!
Holidays
Mod from the same author that brings holidays to Skyrim settlements and will change their appearance based on TES lore. SFO patch available. ENB particle light patches for various lanterns here and here.
Skyrim Battle Aftermath
The civil war has begun, and it's not a pretty sight! Adds civil war battlefields throughout Skyrim.
Pumping Iron - Dynamic Muscle Growth
This mod was not updated for a very long time, but it’s still working great. It adds dynamic muscle growth system. Every time your character gets a skill increase in a combat skill (or smithing) his muscles will be considered to have been trained a little. The more skill increases, the more training. When a 'trained' character sleeps, his muscles will grow ever so slightly. Also grab this improvement addon for it.
Ask Innkeepers To Show Room
Instead of always showing you to your rented room, you can ask innkeepers to show you or tell them you know where it is. Use this mod or the mod below.
Tavern AI fix
A similar mod with a bit different approach, read the mod page. Use one or another.
Improved Camera
SKSE plugin that enables a visible body while maintaining the look and feel of vanilla first person. Highly configurable. Inspired by Enhanced Camera mod in Skyrim LE. Default mod link is for SE, if you're using AE, grab the respective version here. You also take a look at video showcase of it.
Alternate Conversation Camera
Makes conversation with NPCs more immersive by zooming in to their faces. Fully supports both 1st and 3rd person camera, also supports on sitting and lock-on states. Includes "Witcher 3" camera style. You can also try an a bit altered version of it from here .
Sharpen Other Swords II
Distributes different swords and daggers to sharpening wheel and tanning rack animations.
Go to bed
This mod allows your character to actually sleep in bed. A DAR patch is available.
Hold Border Banners
Adds banners along roads showing which hold you are about to enter.
Unique Border Gates
Unique Border Gates redesigns the border crossings of Cyrodill, Hammerfell and Morrowind by adding new, unique and immersive gates. Also grab the fixes.
AI Overhaul
Similar mod, which is somewhat more simple, but much better in terms of compatibility. Many various patches are available here, here, and here, and also JK's Skyrim, Dawn of Skyrim DC , ArteFakes patch and ICOW patches are available.
Destructible Display Cases
Hate lockpicking? Ever wonder why you can't just smash that display case and take all the loot easily? Well now you can.
Loot Spillage ==NEW==
Makes living entities and NPCs drop items in their inventory on death, while with type dependant loot shaders vfx. Configurable SKSE Plugin, compatible with both SE and AE. Inspired by MMOs and other games that have loot spillage systems.
Immersive War and Violence
Rotmulaag - Immersive Meditations on the Words of Power
Allows the player to meditate with Paarthurnax on every shout, providing new unique powers and adding immersive feeling.
Loot and Degradation
Great immersion mod that basically offers 2 main features: - Enemies now can use enchanted weapons. - Weapons and armors will now eventually degrade because of combat. You can repair and temper your weapon/armor Mod also provides useful widgets to display your current armor/weapon status. You can see a video showcase of the mod here.
Equipment Durability System
This may be a more lightweight alternative to previous mod. It's also an SKSE-only plugin so it doesn't occupy an .esp slot.
Immersive War and Violence
Adds past Civil War battlefields to make the world of Skyrim feel like it exists without your intervention and is actually at war.
Immersive Speechcraft Adds several dialogue options to most of Skyrim's NPCs (even ones initially without any dialogue options) allowing for increased immersive interactions and role-play. Compatible with all mods that affects dialogues.
Farmhouse Chimneys
Adds chimneys to farmhouses that have fireplaces. JK's Skyrim patch available.
Time Passes
Actions like crafting, bartering, eating, reading, and training will cause the game time to pass.
Spooky Philter of the Phantom
Use the Philter of the Phantom from Shroud Hearth Barrow to spook civilians and play a prank on Wilhelm.
JS Misplaced Septims
NPC's now have a chance to drop some gold when getting up from furniture.
Random Barrel Roll
Randomly rotates all barrels in the game so they are never aligned in those static piles.
Gallows of Skyrim
Mod adds gallows to every major settlement in Skyrim.
Makes your characters pay their taxes from owning everything from property to a horse. Compatible with previous mod.
Improved Shadowmarks
Improves the placement and appearance of the Thieves Guild shadowmarks and adds dynamic shadowmarks to player homes and other quest-related locations.
Sepolcri - A complete Burial Sites overhaul
Does exactly how it's named.
Death Expressions
Applies random death faces to actors/NPCs that's killed in game. People won't look like they're sleeping after getting stabbed in the stomach or shot in the face. Sesiously, I can't believe we didn't have such mod all the years before. You can see a showcase of it here.
Imperial Knowledge Lorebook Collection Vol. 1
A mod which adds several new lore books to the world of Skyrim on a variety of interesting and obscure lore topics.
Simple Cow and Goat Milking
Adds an animated interaction that lets you milk cows and domestic goats once a day.
Usable Lantern
Turns those useless lanterns you can pick up all over Skyrim into an alternative for a torch. Lanterns are usable now.
Immersion and Lore Continuity - Additions and Tweaks
A collection of tweaks to add in flavorful elements from lore and the game world and its stories for more immersion.
BA Khajiit Speak Redux
Greetings, traveler! Khajiit wishes for you to browse this clever modification. You will download and utilize it in your playthrough, yes? Trust in Khajiit, he would not lie! This is known.. Inconsequential NPCs patch available.
Contraband Confiscation
Guards will now take illegal things from you when they arrest you. If using "No Crime Teleport", also install patches from here and here .
Civil War Refugees
This mod seeks to increase the immersion of the civil war by adding refugees.
Notes with something to read
Added something to read to the notes used in the animation performed by your character or a NPC.
Water Douses Fire
Jump into the water to douse yourself when set on fire by spells or dragons.
Simply Rest (or Sleep) Anywhere
One hotkey allows sitting (cross legged/on a ledge) or laying down on the ground (or anywhere else) with a possibility of waiting/sleeping.
Thieves
Random nighttime thieves upsetting the city. Configurable by MCM.
Skyrim Particle Overhaul
Lots of various particles added here in the in Skyrim for ambience purposes - groundfogs, dripping blood, smokes etc. Note: Mod also edits interiors, so if you don't want to deal with compatibility patching in xEdit, you can use the exterior-only version available.
Hit That Corpse
Weapon impact physics effects to Corpses for either immersion or maybe for when a corpse is blocking you from hitting an enemy.
Slip off Slopes
When you take fall damage, you twist your ankles and ragdoll. This makes parkouring off mountains dangerous.
Orc Strongholds Use Orchish
This mod gives all the warrior orcs of the strongholds orchish armor and weapons from the beginning of the game, making them not just a push over to any enemy even a dragon or a band of bandits while also adding to immersion.
Ancient Nord Stalhrim
Distributes ancient stalhrim weapons to high-level draugr in place of the Vanilla ebony.
More Thieves Caches
Simple mod that adds 25 Thieves Caches all across of Skyrim.
Locks Are Just Locked
A lightweight and immersive way to hide the level of locked objects.
Seagulls of Skyrim
Adds seagulls along the coasts of Skyrim and Solstheim, with animated models and sounds.
Herds
Adds dynamic herders with their animals and camps to Skyrim, purchasable and milkable cows & goats, and more.
Picta Series - A Critters Life - Additional Insect Spawns
Adds more spawn points (such as Mountain Flowers or through spawn markers near ponds and lakes) for critters to spawn.
Mummified Animals - Elements of Skyrim
Add a touch of creepiness to the marshes around Morthal, adding to it the mummified corpses of animals that perished victims of traps, accidents, or even curses, and that now exist as macabre statues adorning the gloomy scenery of the misty swamp.
Animal Bones - Elements of Skyrim
Similar mod from the same author.
Handicapped Citizens - Mihail NPCs and Followers
In a world ravaged by wars and conflicts, where the law of the sword still reigns, and inhabited by the most terrible and bloodthirsty creatures, it is to be expected to find citizens with the most varied types of injuries and deformities caused by these events, in addition to those already born with them.
Merchants of Skyrim
Aadds new merchants into the game, filling the gaps where merchants would be useful and making use of areas that otherwise are left wasted once certain questlines have been completed.
Immersive Khajiit Caravan Mules
Small and lightweight immersion mod. Adds two pack mules to every Khajiit Caravan so they now actually have a believable means of transporting all their tents and wares.
Elderly and Adults
Offers differentiation of adult bodies (whatever you have installed) and elderly bodies.
Sleeping On Solstheim
Adds an MCM for controlling the chance of being teleported to an All-Maker Stone when sleeping on Solstheim (0-100%). Conflict-free, no vanilla records edited.
Slayable Offspring SKSE
SKSE plugin that makes children killable. No patches required.
Dog Backpacks and More
Backpacks...for dogs.
Courier Delivers to NPCs
The courier will now occasionally deliver letters to NPCs in Skyrim.
Whiterun Watchtower Doesn't Start Broken
Do you delay the coming of the dragons? Annoyed that the tower is broken right from the beginning before dragons even appear? This mod is for you then!
True Thane
When you first became thane, did you FEEL like a thane? Well, this mod makes sure that you do. Once you become the thane of a hold you gain the ability to collect taxes, have the hold's guards follow you, have the hold's guards arrest people, exchange your thane weapon for a better version and more. You can a see a brief showcase of it here.
Mourning Restored
A simple plugin that restores the mourning interaction that is present in the Vanilla game files but was left unused. Unique NPCs can now express anger/grief after a relative or friend dies, run away to be left alone for a moment, or greet you differently as they mourn.
Hearthfire Fixed
This mod fixes some basic features of Hearthfire like mead brewing and butter churning .
Splashes Of Skyrim
SKSE plugin that adds projectile based water splashes and ripples, and underwater explosions.
Flying Crows
Adds flying crows to various locations around Tamriel to create a more nordic atmosphere in your Skyrim. If you want a bit amount of crows in the flying packs, also install this .
Ravens - Mihail Monsters and Animals
Adds ravens to some villages and farms. Also make sure to install the optimized textures for it.
Pigeons- Mihail Monsters and Animals
Pigeons to settlements.
Ducks and Swans
Ducks and swans for lakes and ponds in Skyrim.
Chicks - Mihail Monsters and Animals
Chicks near chickens at farms. Also make sure to install the optimized textures for it.
Immersive Death Cycle
See dead animals decay over time, eventually turning into bones.
Vampires Cast No Shadow 2
Simple as that. SKSE plugin.
Open Your Mouth When Grunting
Arrrghh!!
Cough in your hands Not my face
Simple mod that tweaks the basic idle noises that NPCs make, and implements custom animations to most of them.
No More Silver In Castle Volkihar
Removes all silver paraphernalia from castle Volkihar.
The Dragonborn Dreams
The Dragonborn Dreams allows your character to occasionally wake up having had a (written) dream.
Immersive Display Overhaul
Select the item you want to display from your inventory instead of needing to equip it beforehand.
Nocturnal Moths
Adds moths to lanterns at night, with animations and sound effects.
Simple Block Sparks - Script Free
SKSE plugin that spawns sparks effect on weapon/shield while block attack, visual effect only.
Locked Chests Have Keys
Many chests in Skyrim are locked... but truth is no one has the key to open them. Do bandits pick the lock every time? With this mod, most locked chests will have a nearby hidden key that can be used to open the chest. You can still pick the lock as usual, but you can now also use the key... if you manage to find it.
NPCs Wear Amulets of Mara PLUS
Why is the Dragonborn the only character actively looking for marriage in the entire Skyrim? With this mod, NPCs might now be wearing an amulet of Mara, allowing you to ask them out following the Nord tradition.
Fare Thee Well - Spouses and Children Give Blessings
Say a proper farewell to your spouse and children before leaving on your next adventure. Let them know of your intentions, and they may confer a blessing - or a portent of doom upon you.
Kasala123 profile
For small, immersive "Burial Sites" mod series.
Equippable Underwear for NPCs
Gives NPCs equippable underwear so they are no longer naked when you loot or pickpocket them if you are using a nude body mod
Indecent Exposure - Immersive Naked Reactions
Being naked around guards and children is now a crime. Pickpocketing an NPC's clothes causes them to run away.
Mandragorasprouts profile
For tons of tiny mods adding TES deities statues to the game world. Many patches for popular mods here.
Stroudx profile
For shorter males/females mods.
Fertility Mode
If you're playing a female character and wanna have that much realism - yes, there's a mod even for this :) Also grab the tweaks/fixes patch.
CG4 Horse Muck
Because...uhh..well yes.
Individual Shout Cooldown Remake
You can change cooldown of any shout now for your ingame purposes. Can be pretty OP though, if used too wide.
Unlucky Loot
Adds a chance for Draugr to ambush when looting ruins, Daedra to ambush when handling soul gems, and Skeevers to ambush when looting dungeon food.
Enemies Follow Me
Make enemies chase you through loading doors.
Classic Werewolf Transformation
The player should be naked after transforming back from a werewolf. Here it is.
Hidden Hideouts of Skyrim
Adds 21 new areas spread across Skyrim.
Sleep Tight
Sleep-related enhancements to NPCs. Also grab the fix.
Lanterns for Guards etc
A simple mod to add carriable lanterns to guards, vigilants, wardens and all NPC's that normally carry torches. Basically it's a torch replacer but without removing torches from the world.
Dirt and Blood - Dynamic Visual Effects
Your character will accumulate dirt and blood dynamically, which you can clean by swimming, standing in the rain or taking a bath. The effects are mostly visual only and do not affect gameplay. NPCs will also get bloody as a result of battles. Mod is designed to be simple and lightweight. Grab the HD textures patch and optionally, soap distribution patch . You can also install a lite alternative instead.
Khajiit Merchants Buy Stolen Items
Because stereotypes work.
Talkative Dragons
Ever found it weird that dragons, fully sapient beings, have never spoken a word while you’re doing your best trying to defeat them? This mod changes that. Also isntall this (overwrite mod files). Also, if you want to control how frequently you will meet a "talkative" dragon, grab this (configurable).
Crafting Requires Tools Redone
Crafting now requires appropriate tools. Best used in conjunction with survival mods.
Remote Interactions
Interact with friendly and enemy NPCs from afar, with different animations and results based on context and distance.
Dynamic Animal Variants
A standalone plugin that randomly distributes unique texture variants to creatures and animals.
Blowing in the Wind Lite
Makes all lanterns moveable by the wind without any worldspace edits.
Flies Around Corpses
You can now hear blowflies flying around rotting corpses, whether human or animal.
End Times
Tired of the Dragonborn prophecy's success being a given? This mod gives your savegame a timer that you have to defeat Alduin by, otherwise he'll swallow the world! Fully customizable with an MCM.
No Level Up Healing
Prevents you from fully healing health/magicka/stamina when you level up.
Take Notes - Journal of the Dragonborn
Dear diary...
After the Civil War - Siege Damage Repairs
An immersive way of repairing the damage left by the Civil War without using the console. Twenty days after the final battle the cities will be back to normal, but a generous donation will speed-up the reconstruction. Repair crews will be at work fixing the damage.
Reading Improves Speech
Gain Speech XP upon reading a book for the first time. Note: I'd recommend to decrease the XP reward value in xEdit.
HighHrothgar Shelters and Hotspring
Expanded version of the original adding a total of 3 places to sleep in shelters on High Hrothgar and added a hot spring on the mountain near the first cabin.
Imperial Post
Introduces an Imperial-based news system which updates throughout the quest lines.
Fires Hurt
Seriously.
Let Your Hair Down
Automatically switch your hair style in interior locations or with a hotkey.
Drinking fountains of Skyrim
This mod adds several drinking fountains around Skyrim. When you "activate" a fountain, it will give you three bottles of water and if you play in 3rd person you can see an animation. DLC addon here ==NEW== .
Skyrim Artwork Imports
Adds dozens of paintings and tapestries to homes across Skyrim.
Hold Riders
Inspired by Oblivion.
Realistic Capacity
Your inventory space is no longer capable of holding several suits of armor at a time. You can carry the clothes on your back and the weapons on your belt without issue, and your armor will likely have some pouches to store some meager supplies, but unless you get a backpack, you likely won't be able to carry much more than that.
Public Executions
Adds public executions to Solitude and the option to capture bandits for executions.
Bottles Of Skyrim
Adds unique bottles to each beverage.
I'm a Customer Dammit
Allows eating of food and bartering with merchants directly from world.
Just Do It - An inventory-free way to use items
A more feature-packed alternative to the mod above.
Creature Size Variants
Adds some diversity to Skyrim creatures, and generic NPC's, by dynamically resizing them. Customizable with the MCM.
Ultimate Spinning Arrows
Because FWOOOSH.
Harvest Those Mammoth Skulls
Makes the tusks on all mammoth skulls harvestable.
Immersive City Gates
Now the guards won't let you enter the city when you want. Cities are closed during the night and you need to pay the tax to enter during the day. Note: Mod may conflict with city mods.
Frozen in Time
Add frozen bodies to Skyrim.
Tamrielic Culture
Mod adds various different elements of Tamriel cultures to Skyrim here and there. Note: Coverage is pretty massive, so it may conflict with landscape overhauls/dungeon/quest mods. CACO patch and RnD patch are available.
Goldenglow Is Yours
On reading the Goldenglow deed that you get from Gulum-Ei, you actually become the estate's owner. Then you can keep it and get a monthly income, or sell it to Maven for a hefty sum.
Banners of victory
Simple fix of Bethesda overlook - after winning the war the imperials and solitude banners are replaced for Stormcloak banners at Dragon's Bridge, Solitude, and Castle Dour.
Better animations for movement, actions and fighting, and new animations.
First of all, a mod, or rather, an engine, that allows gazillions of other animation mods work to begin with - a must-have installation to proceed into this section. Note: Nemesis supports [all] mods that are dependant on FNIS - so you won't have any issues.
Nemesis - Unlimited Behavior Engine
Nemesis, a better, next generation alternative to FNIS. Link leads to file releases page on Github - just grab the latest version archive (usually the .rar file) somewhere, add this archive to your mod manager and install as any other mod. Bingo! Also grab this patch. Also, if you'll have some weird issues with current Nemesis version, you can always try other version from its github page.
Once again: every, absolutely every mod that works with FNIS or has FNIS "requirement", will work just fine with Nemesis :)
Once again: every, absolutely every mod that works with FNIS or has FNIS "requirement", will work just fine with Nemesis :)
Project New Reign - Nemesis PCEA
As you may already have guessed - Nemesis own PCEA mod, a modern alternative to FNIS PCEA.
Now, a mod that's required by, without exagerration, nearly every other modern animation mod for Skyrim.
Dynamic Animation Replacer This mod applies different animations to each ActorBase. By using custom conditions, users can customize (in the ini file) the conditions for applying animations. Pure SKSE mod so doesn't take a plugin slot. It will be a required mod for many amazing animation mods later. For SE (1.5.97), use the version 1.1.0, and for VR, grab the VR version from the Files tab, and then, also this fix. You can also try the similar mod that was made to be a more light-weight/faster working successor of DAR. It's made to be fully compatible with all mods released for DAR in past, and mostly, it's working just like that, but it's still under active development so may have bugs here and there. If you're not having actual performance issues and too long loading times of animations with DAR due to having way to many (many thousands) of modded animation files, as for now, you can stick with DAR, but track and check out OAR from time to time.Grab this because it won't hurt to have this as a base anims fixes collection:
Assorted Animation FixesCouple other nice fixes and/or improvements:
Weapon switch animation Fix First Person Animation Teleport Bug Fix Paired Animation ImprovementsAnd finally, a cosmetic, but satisfying fix that you never knew you need:
Animation Queue Fix Fixes the queue getting overloaded when a lot of animations are queued for loading at the same time. If you don't have way too many animation mods, you most likely don't have this issue - but at the same time, having it won't hurt at all.
Let's continue to animation mods themselves, shall we?
Now, let's grab some essential (in your humble's opinion) animations mods which will either serve as a solid improvement base that or as an element of controlling the new animations:
Slow sprint bug fix Prevents the bug that slows you down when sheathing. XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended - XPMSSE The one and only. King of skeleton mods. Install with mod manager. Everything is simple, I also strongly recommend to NOT install anything you are not aware of. Just do the basic installation and you’ll be fine. Do NOT overwrite XPMSE after this. Never. The ONLY currently "safe" case is Rougeshot meshes mods for creatures (if you already have them intsalled, simply do [not] overwrite them with XPMSE). Also install fixes here and here . AGO patch available.
Simple Dual Sheath Why can’t you see your left-hand weapon on you? Why can’t you have shield on back? Why can’t you see your staves on you? Think no more. SKSE plugin which should work with most of the weapons out of the box with no need of patches for both vanilla and mod-added weapons.
LeanWolf's Better-Shaped Weapons Awesome mod for weapon meshes, compatible with every retexture mods, that makes weapons looks much more glorious and elegant. Also install this lil Dawnbreaker model improvement . If using Sharpen Other Swords mod, grab a patch . Note: Choose between this mod or the one below. Believable weapons Similar mod of a great quality, with a same goal as mod above but own approach to weapon models. Choose one or another. If using Sharpen Other Swords mod, grab a patch . D13 Faster GET UP STAND UP animation vanilla friendly Great balance mod - get up after being ragdolled by dragon, mammoth or other such enemy faster than in vanilla, but still not too fast. This mod is pretty much needed when playing with gameplay mods, as AI mods often make enemies more savage and/or give realistic attack impact physics to them, and playing with super long vanilla animation speed would simply lead to silly character demises too often. If you want even faster animations, look here. EVG Conditional Idles Absolutely essential mod, as for me. Adds various animated idles that are roughly 9-13 seconds long, that only play in specific conditions, like rain, snowstorm, out of stamina etc. Such a simple functionality yet such a tremendous addition to the immersion through animations. Configurable in ini file. Doesn't take a plugin slot. If you'll be interested in even more idles for it, also install this. You can see my showcase of it here. EVG Animation Variance Another mod from the same author, greatly improving another part of animations for NPCs. Adds variety to existing animations, through NPC personality types, conditions, or just randomly, making NPCs look much more alive and how it's being handled in modern AAA games. Doesn't take a plugin slot. Conditional Expressions - Subtle Face Animations Tired of seeing your character eat bread without opening their mouth? Conditional expressions adds subtle face animations that will bring more life into your character. Also install the improvement patch. Mod showcase here. Immersive Interactions - Animated Actions See your character perform context-aware animations when interacting with the world. Animated greeting of NPCs, pickpocketing, lockpicking, resources harvesting, petting your dog and more! Note: If you're using (or planning to use) "A Cat's Life" and/or "House Cats" mods, install this patch so the mods pet feature will be working for cats in addition to dogs :3
Good! Now let's see some other qualitative animation mods. These type of mods in general are always and absolutely a matter of taste, so I won't be recommending much personally here - just list some qualitative/original looking mods, from which you can choose yourself :)
A thing to note here: animations is effectively the most active part of Skyrim modding stage rn, and there are both new mods being made to stick with "oldschool" animation system (simply said, the "2D" movement and combat), and "new gen" mods ("3D" animation mods which are based on or made in mind with animation overhauls or complex movement mods, like MCO/TDM etc). As for today, animation segment of Skyrim modding is huge, and also pretty complex. It's not possible to list whether this or that animation mod is compatible with a certain behaviour overhaul or some other large animation mod - some "2D" animation mods work just fine with "3D" overhauls and frameworks, some are not.
Thus, first of all for yourself - decide what kind of animation style, the "Elden Ring/Hellblade" one, or the classic Skyrim one, you prefer. Then, take or skip certain animation overhauls - and thus build your further animation setup around them, or not. This will take some time experimenting, but with animations, what's better - "3D" or "2D", simple animations or combos, etc - it's a personal preference of every player.
Large animation mods which are either a complete overhauls of certain animation aspects, or adding decent amount of new animations:
Animated Armoury - New Weapons with third person animations This amazing (and imo, just essential) mod adds new, really working animations for rapiers, pikes, halberds, claws and more, as well as adding those weapons to the game. You can see a brief showcase of it here. Lots of various katana mods patches here
and Ordinator better perks descriptions patch here .Also, some users consider whips to be the "wonky" part of the mod. Try them yourself, and if you will come to the same conclusion, try this version with an optional rebalance patch
.
Immersive Equipping Animations
See your character and followers actually wearing their armors. Animations for equipping/unequipping necklaces, helmets/Hoods, cuirass/clothing, gloves and boots.
Look Around - Searching Animations For NPCs
Adds new animations that make you feel like NPCs are actually searching for you.
Movement Behavior Overhaul
Enhanced behaviors allowing for proper direction transitions, momentum stop, and much more. Compatible with the mod below (patch provided). To disable the sprinting stop animations, install this .
360 Walk and Run Plus AND YY Animations
Jump Behavior Overhaul
Who knew jumping could be this immersive? Get ready for brand new animations, improved behavior, and much more... With NO scripts or plugins at all.
Animation Motion Revolution
This SKSE plugin removes the mismatch between displacement and animations (the infamous ice-skating problem).
Creature Behavior Generator
Creature Behavior Generator allows you to add new custom creature animations into Skyrim. You can add basic, sequenced, paired, and killmove animations. Supports Nemesis.
Modern Combat Overhaul
A combat behaviour mod that allows chainable power attacks, animated charged attacks, animated transitions and non linear movesets. Also, if you have some SkySA animation mods, you can convert them into MCO using the file provided on the mod page. If you're modding Skyrim AE (game version >= 1.6), also install this.Note #1: To properly use this mod with Animated Armoury, install this version of Animated Armoury instead the original mod (2 small optional patches here ==NEW==
and here ==NEW== are also recommended).Note #2: If you're modding with NMM, for Payload Interpreter (required for MCO), make sure to implement the instruction for "needs to have 2 folders" (yes, it's mentioned for Vortex, but needed all the same for NMM as well).
Note #3: If you'll be using lite (not "Distar experience") version of the mod (regular version is recommended though), also install this
.Note #4: Also install this lil fix ==NEW== (needed as for MCO version 1.6.0.6, may become obsolete later if this bug will get fixed in the mod itself). SCAR - Skyrim Combos AI Revolution SKSE plugin that brings up the modern ACT game‘s combos attack AI into Skyrim. Remember those unique attacks of bandits and some other creatures in Ultimate Combat mod? Now imagine these is upgraded to actual combos and used logically by the NPCs. That's it! Can be used (and I suggest you if you like this mod idea) with the two mods below. Also, to balance NPCs combos a bit, optionally, install this patch.
Note #1: If you're modding AE, install this on top to be able to use the mod.
Note #2: While SCAR doesn't technically require MCO (mod above), it won't make much sense without it. True Directional Movement Overhauls the third person gameplay similarly to modern action RPGs, entirely through SKSE. Move and attack in any direction. Includes a custom target lock component and animated healthbar widget, target headtracking, projectile aim support during target lock, boss bars, mount support and more! Modular and customizable through MCM. Note: The mod is still WIP and has some bugs here and there, and due to being a really massive movement (mostly but not only, some more combat-related features exist in it as well) overhaul, it has compatibility issues with some other popular mods. Read the mod page carefully and test it with your current setup to see what and how. You can see a video showcase of the mod here.
Patches/addons:
Diagonal Sprinting Fix
Lock-On Fixes
Simpler Dragon Targeting
Better Horses Turning
Glenmoril Boss Patch
Wheels of Lull Patch
Note: boss patches is simply a line in the .ini file, so if you'll just install both, one will overwrite another. It's generally recommended to just grab the needed line from the patch file and paste it in the latest TDM version .ini file, without fully overwriting it.
UNDERDOG - Animations
Highly-realistic animation overhaul for movement, sneaking and some new idles. It both changes existing animations and, most interesting, adds new. conditional diversity for existing animations. If you'll be playing with Serana, get the fix , and there's Leaps of Faith patch available too. You can see a showcase of it here.
Riding Animation Overhaul - RAO ==NEW==
Vanilla animation replacer that overhauls horse rider/riding animations to be more realistic and visually appealing.
Horse Behaviour Improvements ==NEW==
Horse behaviour mod that adds leaning to horse riding based on slope angle, and does minor pose adjustments for horse creatures. Compatible with iding Animation Overhaul via a single simple tweak - read at the mod page.
EVG Animated Traversal
A new layer of world interaction immersion - climb ledges, squeeze in tight spaces, jump over walls and more. Note: due to the mod's nature, it most likely will conflict with mods affecting same places as the mod does - city/dungeon overhauls, etc. New land kind of mods will also require patching - gladly, there are plenty available.Addons/patches:
Integration Patch This mod adds more than two hundreds EVGAT markers into most Skyrim and Solstheim dungeons and forts to give you a whole new experience while exploring. Dungeon Addons
Some other Skyrim dungeons added. Compatible with the Integration Addon.
Maleficus' Traversal (EVGAT)
Utilizes the EVG Animated Traversal framework by adding parkourable areas into the major hold capitals.
Patch Collection
For various mods.
Bleak Falls Barrow - Animated Traversal
Grab a file here if you're using "Dungeons Revisited" overhaul for BFB.
Hammet's Dungeons patch
JK Skyrim patch
Note: only IF you're using "Deadly Shadows" addon for it.
Let's continue.
Skill Based Dynamic Animations
Animations for both the player and NPCs will be different based on the character's skill level or race.
Immersive Equipment Displays
Display unequipped gear and custom items on the player or NPCs. Works with any item with no additional meshes required. Does not use body slots. SKSE plugin. Custom in-game user interface for configuring everything in real-time while you're playing. Includes a flexible positioning system for both equipped and unequipped gear.Some presets/addons for it:
Use Those Horses Immersive Equipment Displays - Mura Presets IED - Weapons Repositioner Sky Idles Adds over 40 idles that can be tailored to users needs and more. Take a Seat - New DAR Sitting Animations 14 new sit-on-the-ground/meditation animations that will play at random for you and the NPCS thanks to DAR. Random Emotions
Adds a script that will control the player character's facial emotions in a semi-random way. Optional version also supports up to 10 followers.
Animated Eating Redux
Definitive animated eating mod. Works on both NPCs and the player. MCM-configurable.
Eating Animations and Sounds
Over 100 new animations for eating. Can be used together with the mod above if player animations are disabled in Animated Eating Redux MCM. Many patches here , as well as multiple improvements (and also patches) here .
Animated Ingredients
Adds custom movement enabled animation for when player is consuming ingredients. Has an MCM for configuration.
Animated Potions
Adds custom movement enabled animation for player and NPCs when consuming potions. Has an MCM for configuration. ElSopa potions patch here.
Animated Potion Drinking
Helping the Dragonborn be more fancy while remaining nimble. Adds a small animation when you're drinking potions "just like Dark Souls" that works will moving. Use this mod or the mod above.
Animated Poisons
Custom movement enabled animations for all vanilla poisons with correct animation meshes. Has an MCM as well.
Character Behaviors Enhanced
Unique mod that adds previously non-existing moves and animations - attacks in mid air, underwater combat and so on. Its only disadvantage is no compatibility with FNIS (if you're still using it) - but on the other hand, Nemesis supports it just fine (which is just one more reason to switch). Also grab the fix for it. Alternatively, if you want only the mid air attacks and underwater combat - you can get this lite alternative trimmed down from the original mod.
Smooth Combat non Combat idle Animation
Mod adds a difference between idle animations in combat and non-combat situations even when holding a weapon. You can a see a showcase of it here
Conditional Armor Type Animations
Changes the player and NPCs animations depending on their armor type (heavy armor, light armor, non-armored).
EAD - Every Attack Different
Animation replacer for all 1h and 2h attacks, but with a twist: there is a different animation for every swing, cycling between several animations for every weapon type.
Diverse Random Normal Attack
Similar mod that randomizes normal attacks animation.
Extra Drawing Animations
A behaviour edit that adds in a few extra equip animations.
Animations packs that are mostly improving large amount of existing animations in a single pack.
Immersive Animations This mod can be considered an essential "vanilla animation +" mod - all animatons are still immersive and realistic, but noticeably better than dull original animations. Install this mod as base - whatever other animation mods you will install later, they will just overwrite it, and those animations not covered will be still better than vanilla ones. Pretty Combat Animations Magic Casting Animations Overhaul Pretty Female Idles Pretty Jump Animations Dynamic Random Female Idles Simple as that. New Animation for Magic Casting One more magic animations pack from XPMSE author. First Person Combat Animations Overhaul 2.0 60+ new animations to enhance your first person combat experience. New unique animations for katana style weapons and daggers. New block idles, block bashes and more. You can a see a showcase of it here. If you're a katana lover, you can look for various katana mod patches here. Use this mod or the one below. Comprehensive First Person Animation Overhaul - CFPAO One more amazing first person animatons overhaul and alternative to the mod above. Use one or another. Animated Armoury patch here. JUST NEW FEMALE ANIMATIONS Just... those, yes. Running, walking, idle poses, for the main weapons: Bow, sword, magic, and some combat animations. Feminine but not oversexualized. Feral - Claw Unarmed Attacks for Beast Races - Vampires - Werewolves Animation replacer for unarmed attacks of khajiit, argonians, vampires and werewolves. ADXP l MCO Nordic Animation Complete Pack Large MCO-based animation pack, with nordic feel, inspired by AC Valhalla. ADXP I MCO elden rim moveset collection 130+ animations for all Skyrim weapons, adjusted for SCAR, inspired by Elden Ring. Goetia Animations - Magic Spell Casting 100 spellcasting animations, from currently one of my favourite animation mods author. Goetia Animations - Enchanted Staves Complete overhaul of staff animations. Edgemaster Animations for ADXP - MCO Animation replacer for MCO. Replaces animations for swords, axes and maces, daggers, rapiers, claws, scimitars, katanas, spears, greatswords, waraxes and warhammers, pikes and halberds, quarterstaves, unarmed, and dual wield animations. Supports SCAR, as well as Animated Armoury (changes its weapon anims). Akaviri Martial Arts - Oriental Swordsmanship Redux One-handed animation replacer, mainly geared towards an Akaviri/Samurai playthrough. Dynamic Sitting Idles Setups that give you a variety of sitting animations using DAR. Relaxed Sneak Animations Sneaking animations with a raised center of gravity, straighter posture with arms reeled in and no bent wrists. ndh's Animation Overhaul New animations for walk, run, sprint for females. Run and sprint for males. Thu'um - Fully Animated Shouts Adds a toggleable shout behavior which provides unique shout animations for each shout in game. Absolutely brilliant and almost an essential mod to me personally. Use this mod or the one below. Goetia Animations - Conditional Shouts Similar mod from a talented Verolevi. Use this mod or the one below. My personal favourite here.
Standalone animations mods, small packs, and profiles of authors that have plenty of standalone animation mods for certain moves:
Reduce Attack Skating Movement Simple as that. Look on the modpage for demonstration. Use this mod or the mod below. Not needed if you're using MCO. Enemy Magelock - NPC Magic Casting Commitment A really simple mod to switch up combat rhythm especially for those who love enemy enhancer mods - it makes enemy mages to briefly stop moving when spellcasting. You can also watch a showcase of it here. No Spinning Death Animation Note: not needed if you're using Underdog animation pack and picked the death animation variations there. DAR - Dynamic Swimming Devil in immersive details! Changes the swimming animation depending on stamina level and armor weight. You can see my showcase of it here. YY Anim Replacer - Zweihander Two-handed animations from talented YY. Disable Turn Animation Removes turn animation. Look on the mod page video for demonstration. Animated Inebriation Adds drunk idle and walking, running and even spriting animations to most needs mods inebriation effects. Dynamic Dodge Animation Weapon-specific 8-way dodge animations with support for TK Dodge, Ultimate Dodge, and DMCO Verolevi profile For lots really beautiful and smooth animation replacers - movement, combat, magic & stances. Orakin2020 profile For beautiful alternative melee weapons animations. distar66 profile For various, mostly dark-souls inspired animations. stuxjr profile For some brand new animations for various creatures. miken1ke profile For some nice animation replacers for each certain weapon type (battleaxe, dagger etc). edenexile profile For a middle-fantasy weapon animation movesets. UncreativePontiff profile For a manly two-handed weapon movesets. ptowndrew21 profile For some combos and movesets. 5poiler profile For various badass vanilla+ animations. ADXP I MCO ER Twinblades (SCAR Precision) Inspired by Elden Ring, this animation brings together most of Elden Ring's Twinblades moves, and makes some modifications. Note: you have to have some actual twinblade weapon mod installed, like this or this. Sonderbain's Chevalier - Randomized One Handed Block Animations Adds three new Randomized Block animations and one handed sword idle. Random first person magic animation Randomized first person magic casting animation with Dynamic Animation Replacer. DAR - Modesty - Cover Yourself Uses the Dynamic Animation Replacer - Framework to hide nudity with Cover yourself animations. DAR - Onehand Melee Exhaustion This DAR Plugin will change human Actors one handed weapon attack-grip to its slower two handed counterpart if his Stamina fall below 33% and changes back, if its Stamina is higher than 33%. Sprint Swimming
This mod allows you to swim faster by pressing the Sprint button while swimming.
Large Stagger Animation
A smooth animation for large stagger. Very immersive in melee fights.
Animation in Blizzard
Animation in Ashstorm
Girly Animation
Feminine Pickup Animation
mcgFemaleWalk for Skyrim
Feminine Jarl Sitting Animation
Pretty Sit Idles
FNIS Sexy Move
Simple Female Idle Replacer
A really simple replacer for the female idle. Very neutral.
Subtle Jump
Simple jump animation replacer.
Simple Female Running Animation
Simple and nice.
Male Idle Animation
Basic replacer for the derpy male idle made via DAR.
2H katana attack animations
Mofu 1h Sword Power Attack forward
Phalanx Stance - A Shield Block Idle Animation Replacer
SIdeSaddle Combat Animations
A mod that adds sideSaddle horse rider combat animations.
Stronger Swimming Animation
New swimming animation.
Cross and Jab Speed fix
Fixes unarmed animation mod cross and jab, so that the animation's match the ingame unarmed combat speed.
First Person Artifact Animation Replacer
This mod adds new first person animations to some artifacts in Skyrim.
Momo Acrobatic Jump
Elegant, acrobatic-looking jumping animation replacer.
Random Emotions
Mod adds a small script that will rule emotions of player's and up to 10 followers' faces in a semi-random way.
Unique Player Throne Animation
Simple animation replacer for the way your character sits on the throne.
E3 Witcher 3 Dodge Animations
Animations similar to the dodges shown in the e3 presentation for Witcher 3. Can be used with TK dodge and The Ultimate Dodge Mod.
Samurai Killmove port
Samurai-inspired killmove animations.
DAR - Animated Fear
A mod which adds new NPC animations to fear magic effects.
SonderBain profile
For many (mostly) female idle and weapon anims.
Subtle Feminine Carriage Sitting Animation
Subtle Feminine Mount Sprint Animation
Exactly what mod names say.
Parkour in Skyrim
As flashy as usual, you can now jump with those stylish freerunning stuffs like front flip, side flip etc. Jump animations are player only and only played while weapon sheathed.
sgtoy259 profile
For quite unusual, bot so needed mods - new animations for various attacks of draugrs, which are one of the most common enemy type in the game.
Austioxv profile
For AC inspired animations.
samuelga24 profile
For various animations for popular mods (Wildcat, Wounds etc) - for conditions that were not animated before, or extensions to immersive animation/idle mods (like EVG series).
exm842 profile
For dozens of high-quality animations for MCO/SCAR/Precision, mostly inspired by DS/Elden Ring.
cheming1228 profile
For some other AC inspired anims for MCO.
Stuxjr profile
For some nice combos and Nier Automata inspired anims.
LilBadJj profile
For dozens of standalone combat anims for MCO.
CiomeG profile
For some MCO anims for Animated Armoury weapons.
Gunslicer profile
For simple yet nice animations for various actions - running, swimming, sneak etc.
Skypia profile
For "Smooth" animation series for most of actions of your character.
CHIMgarden profile
For various conditonal animations for secondary actions in the game world - praying, gestures and even cart drivers.
Unique Animations Reworked
Overhauls two unique animations: bathing hunter near Darkwater Crossing and Astrid Dark Brotherhood introduction scene. Note: lay down idle animation doesn't work if you have EVG Animation Varience intsalled, so you may want to delete the "idlelaydown.hkx" from the mod files.
Customizable Faster Mining Animation
Customizable Faster Woodcutting Animation
Self-explanatory.
Jarl Sitting Animation Replacer
Replace the Jarl sitting animation with the ones used by Arch Curate Vyrthur during the Dawnguard questline. Comes in as a full replacer, randomized (DAR), as gender-specific replacer (Nemesis).
The Ultimate Sit Animation - Men's Edition
Behold the ultimate sit animation for men. A long, robust, lifelike idle sit animation replacer intended for male characters. Sit the only way the dragonborn knows how: like an absolute boss.
Feminize - Crafting Animation
Crafting animations adjusted for female characters, including the player. Currently includes Alchemy, Enchanting, Blacksmithing, Tanning, and Cooking. Note: If you have camera mods and experience bugs with this one, install the NPCs-only version of the mod.
No More Swimming In Air - Fixed Floating SwimIdle
Fixes the awful swimidle animation which plays well above water instead of below, causing the impression to be flying rather than swimming.
Animated Whistling
Whistle to your horse properly.
Disable NPC stretching idle
If this bothers you.
MCO - ADXP - Elder Creed - Blade
A one-handed moveset for MCO, inspired by Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.
Flute Animation Fix
Do your male bards play the flute with their noses? Do your female bards play the flute with their psychic powers? Quick fix for both!
Enhanced 1stperson Parry Animation
This will change first person parrying for all melee weapon and add stabbing bash.
Jumping Attack
Adds in the ability to jump attack with custom animation as well as allows you to use ranged weapons and magic mid air.
First Person Animation Replacer - Swimming
Adds a water kicking animation to the first person camera mode while swimming.
First Person Animation Replacer - Idle
Adds a light sway to the character camera in first person mode.
Nier Automata 2B Dodge Replacer
Replace dodge animations for The Ultimate Dodge Mod and TK Dodge.
Sky Sprint
Player exclusive handmade sprint animation replacers.
Quicker Bed Exit
Yup.
TK Dodge AddAttack SE by Ni-iru
Adds ability to perform a stylish attack while dodging. Requires TK Dodge mod.
Twohanded animations inspired by Guts from Berserk
Twohanded animations for all attacks, except for normal attacks, inspired by Berserk games.
Randomized One Handed Block and Idle Animations
Three new one hand block animations (four with the vanilla one), and one new idle animation (two with the vanilla one).
Hand to Hand Blocking Animation
AWS - Animated Wedding Scene
Breathes more life to the player wedding scene by playing a new set of animations between you and your new spouse.
A Skyrim Kiss
Try a little tenderness: Hug and kiss any human NPC at the use of a spell.
A Skyrim Waltz
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3... Waltz with a partner of your choice at the use of a spell. From the author of mod above.
Sit Crosslegged
Yup.
Reanimated NPC Animations
New animations for reanimated NPCs. Make dead thralls act more soulless. Even more animations addon here.
1st Person Dagger Stab with DAR
Replaces 1st person dagger power attack with strong forward stab.
Weapon Animation (Dawnbreaker)
Unique animation when using Dawnbreaker. Note: not compatible with Better-Shaped Weapons/Believable Weapons improved model for Dawnbreaker.
GuitarthVader's Better Battleaxe and Warhammer Equipping Animation
Tavern Dancers of Skyrim Raks Sharki
Adds dynamic dance for the women in Skyrim, provided they are using the beer drinking animation in a conditional way.
Crosshair-aligned Crossbow
Improves first person aiming with crossbows. You can see a video showcase of it here.
Idle Animations WheelMenu
Allows you select and play idle animations through a wheel menu, kind likes the "emote menu" from fallout 76, fortnite or other games. Totally contains 75 different idle animations, all animations can be easily selected and played through the wheel menu.
Witcher Style Meditate Waiting
By pressing a custom hotkey, you can meditate waiting just likes in Witcher 3.
Crouch Sliding
Adds in a crouch slide, when you're sprinting press your sneak key to perform a crouch slide, this gives you i-frames and(optionally) cause surrounding NPC's to ragdoll away from you. Works in first person as well.
No Throat-Slashing Animation (Sneak Attack Killmove)
Always backstab ("Rear Stab") instead of slitting throats ("Rear Throat Slash")
Rolling after landing (Controllable)
Allows you to do a forward rolling animation after landing from high to reduce the fall damage. This action is activated by a custom hotkey.
Faster Mining Animation (DAR)
Rumple's Dual Wield Idle
Artifact Animation Replacer - Wabbajack
Adds custom animations to the Daedric artifact Wabbajack.
Monster Facial Animation (MFA)
This mod adds facial animation to werewolves, werebears and vampire lords.
(DAR)Death animation variation
5% chance to play "You Too Brutus..!!" kind a death animation. Note: not needed if you have UNDERDOG animation mod, as similar but much more variative feature is implemented there.
Undead summons emerge from the ground
This mod makes all summoned undead emerge from the ground when summoned.
Faster Reanimation
A simple mod that reduces the duration of the reanimation animation by editing the three corresponding .hkx files. install one of the preferred versions. Use this mod or the one above.
Faster Transform - To Werewolf and VampireLord
Just a sidenote: If some animation mod you like is available for LE, but not for SE, you can port animations from LE to SE yourself using this tutorial.
These various patches/fixes/small mods are absolutely not obligatory, but may be very useful. It's totally up to you - install them or not.
Various mods, patches and fixes - these can tehcnically belong to any of categories above, but are usually really tiny or matter of taste ones, so grouped here.
Patches, tweaks and tiny additions:
QUASIPC - Qwinn's Unified Automated Self Installing Patch Compendium
A very simple yet very useful mod - a super-patcher. Just run the installer and let it automatically detect whether you need or not one, few or many patches from 103 patches it has. Using this patcher is not something you will have crashes without, but it will polish various minor compatibility issues here and there.
WiZkiD Patches Compendium
One more similar patcher mod.
Miscellaneous Patches
And a few more patches for some mods.
Whose Quest Is It Anyway NG
Swaps the "Quest items cannot be removed..." message for a more descriptive message informing you which quest the item belongs to.
Yes Im Sure NG
Disables annoying message prompts asking you if you're sure you'd like to craft/improve/exit menus. Updated version of the original mod.
No Edge Glow - Magic and Transformations Updated
Replaces certain character effect shaders with an invisible version. No more garish green glow from Alteration armor spells. No more red/green/blue outline when using drain spells and effects. No more horrid outline on enchanted armors and weapons, etc.
Better Combat Escape
Improves the vanilla game combat escape\stopping mechanism, to prevent you stucking at