guide Skyrim AE for Beginners - V 3.1.0

[Aylis]

Update to 3.0.9

Feels like the mod authors got insane after 'VtM Bloodlines 2' dropped (darn Malkavians)! Every major mod got updates within the last week or so... And this means I have to push another update as this resulted in a few required changes. On the plus side we can get rid of some patches as those arn't needed anymore.

 

And I can sneak in an additional voice type and the already finished weapons. 

 

Mods to REMOVE

Spoiler

Textures - Objects

Hay                                                                                                          Covered by PBR

 

NPC

BnP - Child Skin                                                                                      Not needed anymore

Children of the Ash - AI Overhaul Patch                                              Redundant with the new 'Skypatcher' versions.

Children of the Ash - 3DNPCs Patch

Children of the First - AI Overhaul Patch

Children of the Green - USSEP

Children of the Green - AI Overhaul

Children of the Hist - AI Patch

 

Jewelry

Ioun Stones                                                                                             Too valuable and too common for its own good.

Ioun Stones Mage Integration

 

Weapons - Melee

Bonemold Weapon Pack - Textures                                                      Covered by the added vanilla textures.

Stalhrim Weapons and Armor

The Regal Rapier and Dainty Dirk                                                         Low visual quality

Nordic Draugr and Hero Weapons                                                        Covered by the added vanilla textures.

 

Sound - Characters

Subgroup: Voice Types

PC Head Tracking Voice Type ans Dragon Shouts - Lucina                 Too limited

 

Mods to ADD

Spoiler

Weapons - Melee

Banneredge

Dawnfang and Duskfang - No Forced Quest                                           Moved from 'Patches CCC'

Egil's Rapier

Everedge Sword

     The visual options are up to you

Everedge Sword - Shield to Back Patch

Imperial Pugios

Orc Hero Swords

Old Orc with Orc Hero Sword - SkyPatcher

Sunder and Wraithguard - Editable Vault Cell                                         Moved from 'Patches CCC'

Vindicator Blade

Velothi Warscythe

Velothi Warscythe - Warhammer to Battleaxe

 

Sound - Characters

Subgroup: Voice Types

DBVO Bella Voice

DBVO Bella Voice - Radiant quest fix

DBVO Bella Voice - Main and DLC

DBVO Bella Voice - Wet and Cold

DBVO Bella Voice - Vayne Remastered

DBVO Bella Voice - Heart of Ice - Astrid

DBVO Bella Voice - The Iceheart Mill

DBVO Bella Voice - The Iceheart Sisters

DBVO Bella Voice - FDE - Aela the Huntress

DBVO Bella Voice - FDE - Lydia

 

PBR (Physical Based Rendering)

PBR Hay

 

Edited October 30, 2025 by Aylis

[belegost]

Is there a standalone version of your list, like a document or a spreadsheet?

 

I am using your list as a reference and suggestion list for building my own load order and would like to do away with spoiler tags, so I can freely use text search function.

The ability to mark what I already have, what I might consider at a later date and what I am not interested in would also be nice to have. None of which is available for a forum post and this list is massive.

 

I have been slowly going through it for over a week now and I am at the point I have to go back and remind myself whether or not I have a particular mod installed or even if I am interested in it.

Edited October 30, 2025 by belegost

[userdeviant]

Hi Aylis, first of all thank you for your great work!

 

I have some (stupid?) questions as I am really beginer of modding (with poor english:)

- i need to do every (blue) step of your list, install mods etc, sometimes decide myself when fomod choices, sometimes some yellow mods ... and whole time i do not need to run some other things like pandora, dyndolod, texsomething, bodyslide or simply anything ... only mods, patience, coffee and MO2 ... right?

- after this all i need to run dyndolod, pandora and that thing around paralax (forgot name) and reshade too? and do some things, place outputs from that things at the end of load order ... right?

- end of all is turn off things for dyndolod, do some things with wrye bash and then i can finaly enjoy game, right?

 

And do i really need to use bodyslide? or only install presets as mods to right place (that caliente etc folder), keep all things zeroed and everything will fit? Im not sure if i understand right all that around bodyslide so i hoye you tell me "no need":)

 

And if i really wanna add this mod, where is it the best place in load order? https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/35880

Or do you know some other mod that will fit and what makes slow mo in combat on keypress? Or i am stupid and that mod is present and i missed it?

 

And last thing: i am at your mod list at World - Locations [Exterior Skyrim], not far, and tried some test run of game. It was perfect ctd:) After click on start new game. I found out that if i skip The Great City Of Dawnstar, everything is ok. Do i need skip Dawnstar Burial Site too or this is something else?

 

Thank you very much and have a nice day

Edited October 30, 2025 by userdeviant

[Kamikatana]

Hi Aylis,

 

With RSChildren gone, should we keep NPC's "BnP - Child Skin", and if yes, which one should we pick?  (i.e. RS, TKAA or Simple).

 

Thanks.

[Kamikatana]

Sorry.. one more thing.   I know you just moved "Save the Icerunner" to Quests to solve a black face problem, but I think one of the reasons you originally had it further below is that it must be below "The Choice is Yours" (according to some comments in the "Save the Icerunner" posts).   Something about the fact that the quest runs "vanilla" if not below

 

Just something to think about.  Thanks again...

[Aylis]

Last session was 36 hours working on the guide... So let me get a coffee first. 

 

@belegost

Nope there isn't. Only a testfile where I started a calc sheet.

 

@userdeviant

Hey, welcome.

 

1. Corrrect. Those will come much later (aka at the end).

2. Exactly. The guide will tell you when (and how) they should be run, Including tutorial videos and step-by-step instructions.

3. Yep.

4. No. For that we got the predone files (although I'm working an update to armors right now). Download - activate - done.

5. No idea. I never tested that mod or something similar.

6. Ouch, not a simple question. I'd guess to remove it for testing as well.

 

The guide is layered. Many things that cause problems at first get patches later on and then work as they should. I'd guess that at least half of the used ESP/ESL are just patches that either fix something or make other mods compatible with each other.

 

Anyway, if you have questions just ask. There is usually someone around that can help. We got users from America to Asia (and me smacked in the middle) and everyone is helping each other. Just as it should be and I am very happy to see here. 

 

@Kamikatana

1. Yep, a leftover (and now removed).

2. Flagged it as 'Do not use' until I find a solution. Atm it seems to be either 'Black Faces' and working, or looking good and wonky. Good example of 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't'... 

_________________________________________________

 

Collecting Links (Reworked)

Spoiler

As usual, bold mods survived the testphase and will be added.   Offset Movement Animation
The Wolven Widow - Elisif Overhaul
Pelts 'o' Plenty - Fur Pelt Gear	Zeroed Pelts 'o' Plenty
REQUIRED for Hrongar's SPID
Pelts 'o' Plenty - Fix
Pelts 'o' Plenty - 3BA Preset
Pelts 'o' Plenty - Fluffy Fur Pelt Cloaks Adventurer Armour - HDT-SMP Armor Separated
Adventurers Tunic	Zeroed Adventurers Tunic (M and F)
REQUIRED for Hrongar's SPID
Adventurers Tunic - 3BA Preset
Arcane Mage Armor	Zeroed Arcane Mage (F)
REQUIRED for Ysolda's SPID
Arcane Mage Armor - HDT-SMP Patch
Champion of Arkay Armor	Zeroed Champion of Arkay (M/F)
Champion of Arkay Armor - HDT-SMP
Champion of Arkay Armor - HDT-SMP 3BA Preset
Champion of Arkay Armor - HDT-SMP HIMBO Preset
Einherjr Armor	Zeroed Einherjr (F)
Einherjr Armor - Fixes
Einherjr Armor - Textures
Einherjr Armor - HDT-SMP Patch
Master Thief Armor	Zeroed Master Thief (M and F)
The one with 3BA
Master Thief Armor - HIMBO Preset
Master Thief Armor - 3BA HDT-SMP Patch
Master Thief Armor - HIMBO HDT-SMP Patch
Penelope Outfit	Zeroed Penelope Armor (F)
Sand Snake Armor and Weapon
This is a reminder for me. For use after an expansion of 'Beyond Skyrim' drops.
Wine Duchess	Zeroed Wine Duchess (F)
Wine Duchess - Meshes (Non-HS)
Wine Duchess - Textures
They are further down
Gryphonknight Regalia	Zeroed Gryphonknight (M and F)
Gryphonknight Regalia - HDT-SMP Patch Gryphonknight Regalia - HDT-SMP 3BA Preset Gryphonknight Regalia - HDT-SMP HIMBO Preset Wind Ruler Armor	Zeroed Wind Ruler (M and F)
REQUIRED for Uthgerd Overhaul
Wind Ruler Armor - Fixes
Wind Ruler Armor - HDT-SMP Patch
Wind Ruler Armor - HDT-SMP 3BA Preset
Wind Ruler Armor - HDT-SMP HIMBO Preset
Master Thief Armor - Thieves Guild Replacer
Wine Duchess - Vampire Royal Armor Replacer
SPID Hrongar Thane of Whiterun Viking Armor
SPID Penelope Outfit
SPID Uthgerd the Unbroken Viking Armor
SPID Ysolda Aspiring Merchant Viking Armor
Pelt Cloaks for Wet and Cold
ONLY if you installed the 'Pelts 'o' Plenty'.
Immersive Equipping Animations
Eating Animations and Sounds - First Person Patch
First Person Animations - For some mods
Dynamic Lowered Hoods
Helmet Toggle 2
PBR Divine Crusaders
PBR Wine Duchess

 

Edited October 31, 2025 by Aylis

[userdeviant]

2 hours ago, Aylis said:

Anyway, if you have questions just ask. There is usually someone around that can help. We got users from America to Asia (and me smacked in the middle) and everyone is helping each other. Just as it should be and I am very happy to see here. 

 

Thank you very much for answers. And especially for this one;)

[userdeviant]

9 hours ago, belegost said:

Is there a standalone version of your list, like a document or a spreadsheet?

 

Hi, i have this one. Not perfect and little old. Simply saved whole first page of this great guide to pdf with all contents opened. Hope it helps

Skyrim AE for Beginners - V 3.0.8 - Skyrim_ Special Edition - LoversLab.pdf

[belegost]

31 minutes ago, userdeviant said:

Hi, i have this one. Not perfect and little old. Simply saved whole first page of this great guide to pdf with all contents opened. Hope it helps

Skyrim AE for Beginners - V 3.0.8 - Skyrim_ Special Edition - LoversLab.pdf 14.78 MB · 0 downloads

Thank you!

[PubliusNV]

Adventurer Armor - Fixes and SPID Distribution has been set to hidden, and replaced by this mod. Hopefully it's ok to just use that instead.

 

Also, the Adventurer Armour - 3BA Bodysdlide Preset link leads to the replacer mod that I linked above, and I don't see a Bodyslide preset there. 

Edited October 31, 2025 by PubliusNV

[PubliusNV]

I'm a bit confused by entries like this. Does it mean that something else (the mod immediately above?) is not needed because the below predone files are available for download, or that the below files are not needed? Thanks.

 

[PubliusNV]

1 minute ago, Ihiku said:

Is there a reason ENB isn't present here? or am I missing something

 

I believe it's because Aylis replaced it with Community Shaders.

[Aylis]

@PubliusNV

1. Check 'Collecting Links' in my last post. I'm reworking that section.

2. Click me

 

Quote

Grey                        Bodyslide files. NOT needed if you use my predone bodyslide files.

 

*makes a hand gesture*

These are not the bodyslide files you're looking for. 😉 

 

3. Exactly.

Edited October 31, 2025 by Aylis

[PubliusNV]

Ahhh. Those are not the bodyslide files I'm looking for. Move along. 🙂

[Aylis]

A few screenies

Spoiler

 

Fog, thick as peasoup...

 

[Novosin]

Well... This was interesting. My new hedgehog HIMBO preset, perhaps.

I think I know where i fu**ed up.

 

Spoiler

 

[Aylis]

@Novosin

Well, looking at that I'm happy to report that I just finished the upload of the predone bodyslides...

________________________________________________

 

Added 'Predone Zeroed Bodyslides - Additional Armors' to the 'Final' group of the guide. It contains updated bodyslides for the used armors and already covers the new ones which will come with the next update (aka the update which should have been 3.0.8).

Edited October 31, 2025 by Aylis

[Novosin]

54 minutes ago, Aylis said:

@Novosin

Well, looking at that I'm happy to report that I just finished the upload of the predone bodyslides...

________________________________________________

I appreciate that @Aylis. And of course I've also added a few more body presets and armours/outfits to my list. But I got it working as it should. Still testing my list, which has a few customizations. 

However, I have a problem with City Trees (installed exactly as instructed in the Modlist. No customizations.).
Not sure if I've made a mistake, but have anyone else experienced this?
 

Spoiler

 

It's Skulvar's farm (the small farm opposite Whiterun Stables). It's as if the ground is too high up.

Edited October 31, 2025 by Novosin

[Aylis]

@Novosin

Thats 'Northern Roads'. Make sure that the city/landscape/plant patches are in exactly the same order the mods are installed. A few things are sunk in a bit, nothing to be done about that, but you'll only see that if you go there.

[belegost]

I'm 3/4 through Landscape textures section and I've been on it for a week. That it a LOT of downloading to do. Some mods I would've never considered or even known about there.

 

Lost practically whole today because I deiced to go with Ulvenwald and Folkvangr combo to see how they look and skipped whole Trees section. Ultimately, as I kept going, I decided I do not like them so much. So I had to walk back on it.

[PubliusNV]

After installing all the way through the Weapons - Ranged group, I started a new game and everything looked fine. I then installed the mods in the Equipment Overhaul group, and now the all the guards in Whiterun are naked except for a cloak, weapon, and shield. 

 

I tried reinstalling RMB SPIDified - Guard Armor Replacer, but that didn't fix it. I then tried reinstalling Guards Armor Replacer, but that didn't fix it either.  

 

Any advice on where to look next would be appreciated. 

[Aylis]

@belegost

Over the years I've been through all possible tree mods and combinations. Same with all the available grass mods. What we got now is imho the best possible combination. The only thing missing is Floral Solstheim. But that one needs some patches before it is useful for us.

 

@PubliusNV

I've run into the same issues during testing before. All I can say is this:

1. SPID needs a new game to 'trigger'.

2. Quite a few armors need created bodyslide files and/or PGPatcher to show up properly.

3. The installation order of the created bodyslide files (or better said their meshes) decides what is shown in game.

 

At the stage you are now try 'resetinventory' and/or 'disable' and then 'enable'. This resets the NPC and (not necessarily the correct) armors should show up. 

[belegost]

2 hours ago, Aylis said:

Over the years I've been through all possible tree mods and combinations. Same with all the available grass mods. What we got now is imho the best possible combination. The only thing missing is Floral Solstheim. But that one needs some patches before it is useful for us.

I only recently got my hands on a truly powerful PC and those two were on my list for a long time, so I kinda got overexcited. However it does seem like you had thought it through and the more I go into models and textures the more it seems like you actually have an overall vision. It seems to slowly come together and every time I boot up to see if everything works, stuff just keeps looking better and better.

 

I am also operating under assumption that the order you posted those mods in, is the correct overwrite order.

 

But I already know that I will stray from your guide when it comes to bodies, perks, magic, armors, NPC overhauls and most importantly: sex mods. That last category is  not perverted enough for my taste.

Edited November 1, 2025 by belegost

[Aylis]

@belegost

You got me there.

 

I try to keep the guide open enough so others can change the things in the game to whatever they like/prefer. 

_________________________________________________

 

I started modding with FO3 and learned over the years that a layered approach with separate categories works best for me. First come the big overall changes and then it is going more and more into the smaller details. After a harddrive died on me (and the backup was corrupted) I lost so much data that I was looking for an alternative solution. Thus the guides were born. So, unless the internet dies, I'll always have an accessable information backup and can restore the data again. That I can help others at the same time is a nice bonus. 😉  

 

Generally I stick to three rules:

1. I try to keep some logic in the game and even magic should follow some rules. 

2. Make everything as realistic as possible. But fun trumps realism (aka don't overdo it).

2. Stick to the lore (unless it got something really really stupid in it).

 

From a historical viewpoint I want to keep the technology in Skyrim (armor, weapons, etc.) roughly up to the point of the 'Battle of Agincourt'. And at the same time I want to reduce the massive gap the legion shows (~600 years) in comparison to the rest. Bethesda really messed that one up. Full-plate armor on one hand and then legion armors that were outdated centuries ago. This is especially annoying when you compare the armor in Skyrim with the legion armor in Oblivion.

 

I aim to get a believable balance here that doesn't scream 'GAME (NON)LOGIC' the whole time...

[belegost]

22 minutes ago, Aylis said:

Make everything as realistic as possible

I too once cared for "realism" and "immersion".

All that went out the window faster than Nazeem saying "Do you get to Cloud District very often?" the moment I discovered Devious Devices exist.