Skyrim SE or AE in 2026?

[Pingu08]

As the title says. Which version has the best compatibility with the various SL and DD mods in 2026?

 

I have been using a downgraded version of SE since AE was released but had to reboot my computer.

I was wondering if I should make the switch to AE 1.6.1170, as my redownloaded Skyrim has a hard time downgrading to 1.5.97 or is SE still the most compatible with LL mods?

[SnowbunnySassenach]

I use AE 1.6.1170 and also use SL with many other SL addon mods, Most new/newly updated mods will work, vast majority ive tried have had no issues out of the norm, SE is still the more compatible version but from my experience AE works just fine

[natty7]

Special Edition and Anniversary Edition are the same thing as far as mods are concerned. Getting Skyrim SE/AE right now on Steam gives you version 1.6.1170. It does not matter if you do not get the AE DLC when getting Skyrim on Steam, you'll still be on version 1.6.1170 sometimes referred to as AE.

Version numbers are important for SKSE plugins, they only work on certain versions, you need to be mindful of that when getting SKSE plugins. (Normal mods in ESM/ESP/ESL format do not care about version numbers.)

[Mud]

AE currently seems to have some kind of instability issue with HDT FSMP and NPCs, and I encountered at least one crash related to it and Dynamic NPC Replacer that doesn't occur on SE when I attempted to move my loadout to AE, so there are still obscure problems out there. It's also likely there are probably also some issues in the opposite direction that only occur on SE, though.

[Grey Cloud]

On 3/22/2026 at 9:34 PM, natty7 said:

Special Edition and Anniversary Edition are the same thing as far as mods are concerned.

That is not correct. Many mods are designed to work with either Skyrim version 1.5.97 or 1.6.x.x.

[Just Don't]

2 hours ago, Grey Cloud said:

That is not correct. Many mods are designed to work with either Skyrim version 1.5.97 or 1.6.x.x.

But Anniversary Edition is not the name of the game when you're on the latest update, nor even when you buy and install the paid DLC called Anniversary Edition. That's the crux of naming conventions and mixing real executable versions. The game is always called "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition". So yes, executable versions determine compatibility with SKSE and some SKSE mods, but executable versions don't have different file or game names.

[Grey Cloud]

7 hours ago, Just Don't said:

So yes, executable versions determine compatibility with SKSE and some SKSE mods, but executable versions don't have different file or game names.

I didn't say it was different file names or game names and it wasn't just about the game as natty7 mentioned mods. I wrote "Skyrim version", I could have made it clearer that I was referring to the Skyrim exe version but the point remains that one cannot say that SE ans AE are the same thing as far as mods go.

Edited March 24 by Grey Cloud

[Just Don't]

2 hours ago, Grey Cloud said:

one cannot say that SE ans AE are the same thing as far as mods go.

Well, yes. One is the game, the other is a paid DLC.

But you read both names then mentioned executable versions. You can have a latest executable version without AE content, or all AE content with an older executable version. Like I said, mixing the two like they're interchangeable is the crux of the issue.