Best Skyrim combat overhauls in 2026 ⚔️ what are you running?

[Fraying9981]

Hi, 

Wondering if anyone could share their combat gameplay mod setups in 2026? Obviously Skyrim is a bit old and the combat system somewhat janky, but there are many combat revamp mods available now!

I'm looking for a setup (= one or more mods) that changes combat in depth, and is safe to use. I've been a bit conservative with combat mods so far for fear of breaking my game.

 

So far I've installed/tested the following:

• TK Dodge and its variants: love the concept of dodging but unfortunately it seems to conflict with many mods and only ever worked on 50% of my playthroughs
• True Directional Movement - Modernized Third Person Gameplay, with smoothcam but WITHOUT TrueHud (because I'm concerned about incompatibilities of TrueHud with many other mods) -> I like it so far, but it seems that without the target lock it's not a huge deal. It feels more like QOL than combat.
• Enhanced Combat AI AE https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/169257 -> this is a mini mod that changes AI behavior a bit. I like it but I'm concerned that because it's SKSE it may conflict with other bigger combat revamp mods I could install on top of it.
• HorsePower - Modernized Horse Riding (Total Riding Overhaul) -> changes horse combat. but haven't really used it yet.

 

In particular I've come across this mod developer that seems to have mods that can be combined but not sure how to get started. I don't want to break my game by having SKSE DLLs conflicting with one another, since that seems to be the risk these days.

https://www.nexusmods.com/profile/maxsu2017/mods?gameId=1704&sortBy=endorsements

 

I'm not looking for: 

• mods that add spells
• mods that make enemies beefier
• mods that change enemies spawn rates/ whatever

 

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[shrtjsrtj]

Precision? Makes weapon swings hitboxes accurate to what they look like in the animations, also makes it so if you're swinging a big weapon in small areas it'll hit the wall. Pretty tweak-able and has lots of addons.

 

Cons: messes with ZAZ whipping events and needs a lot of other mods to smooth out the experience IIRC.

 

BFCO? Framework for adding new animations and new types of attacks, like jump attacks, charge attacks and attacking while swimming.

 

Valhalla Combat? I loved this back in the day for the parry mechanic, then I had issues with it, searched for a replacement but couldn't find anything near as good and gave up. Lots of people are reporting it works fine now though, so I think I need to reinstall and try again. What made it so good was that you can also mostly ignore it and play like vanilla if you want, but when things get really rough you have the option to bet it all on a parry.

 

Bow Charge Plus? Lets you charge up bow shots so they do more damage. Nothing crazy but I do like it, great for the first stealth shot or for when you've got extra time to aim.

 

 

[shrtjsrtj]

3 hours ago, SyamsQ said:

Is BFCO better than MCO? 
Many MCO's animation there is no BFCO version

No idea.

You can just rename the mco* files to bfco* and they'll work, or use the converter to do this to batches of files.

[Fraying9981]

7 hours ago, shrtjsrtj said:

Precision? Makes weapon swings hitboxes accurate to what they look like in the animations, also makes it so if you're swinging a big weapon in small areas it'll hit the wall. Pretty tweak-able and has lots of addons.

 

 

Thanks! Yes I use that one, it's excellent, though it doesn't change the gameplay too much.

For the ZaZ issue you were referring to: this partially fixes it: Precision - NPC Combat Fix

• It fixes the targetting completely for whipping animation
• However the target NPC may occasionally be moved outside of the furniture (but will then reset automatically)

 

BFCO/MCO: What's the right way to set it up? Which submods should you install?

I realized I had MCO Universal Support installed all this time but that's it.

 

8 hours ago, shrtjsrtj said:

Valhalla Combat? I loved this back in the day for the parry mechanic, then I had issues with it, searched for a replacement but couldn't find anything near as good and gave up. Lots of people are reporting it works fine now though, so I think I need to reinstall and try again. What made it so good was that you can also mostly ignore it and play like vanilla if you want, but when things get really rough you have the option to bet it all on a parry.

 

 

That looks amazing! Thanks for sharing.

How is the timed block? The videos looks a bit like it's cheated

[shrtjsrtj]

11 hours ago, Fraying9981 said:

BFCO/MCO: What's the right way to set it up? Which submods should you install?

I realized I had MCO Universal Support installed all this time but that's it.

I was hoping other people would chime in, there's a ton of animation sets added from other games and some unique ones, so it'll come down to personal preference. It can work by specific weapon type, so you can have special animations for rapiers only and whatnot to add variety. Personally I still just use Gunslicer animations as most of them are good and I'm way too lazy to create my own custom set, I tried a few different animation sets but nothing ever really stuck. I do like being able to attack those stupid fish while underwater though and the extra hotkeys for charge attacks are nice.

Quote

For the ZaZ issue you were referring to: this partially fixes it: Precision - NPC Combat Fix

Neat, I'll have to check it out.

Quote

That looks amazing! Thanks for sharing.

How is the timed block? The videos looks a bit like it's cheated

IIRC you can tweak the timing window to make it harder/easier, but yeah it makes for a huge turn around if you land it. There are other parry mods if that one seems too good, but I'm not familiar enough with them to comment. I also remember what issues I had with it, it worked for a few hours and then it'd start CTDing whenever I parried. So be careful if you try it. Years ago I had no issues for full play throughs, but then that started happening and I had to give up on it. 

 

I hope more people chime in and this becomes a place to talk about combat revamps, I'm just a dabbler and want to see what other people are doing.

[Fraying9981]

1 hour ago, shrtjsrtj said:

I was hoping other people would chime in, there's a ton of animation sets added from other games and some unique ones, so it'll come down to personal preference. It can work by specific weapon type, so you can have special animations for rapiers only and whatnot to add variety. Personally I still just use Gunslicer animations as most of them are good and I'm way too lazy to create my own custom set, I tried a few different animation sets but nothing ever really stuck. I do like being able to attack those stupid fish while underwater though and the extra hotkeys for charge attacks are nice.

Quote

 

so it's just animations? no actions/new gameplay?

[shrtjsrtj]

17 minutes ago, Fraying9981 said:

 

so it's just animations? no actions/new gameplay?

Mostly yeah, it's also a pre req for other mods. You do get the under water attack, jump attacks, directional power attacks and charge attacks by default though. If you're already happy with MCO, probably no point in it.

[alphafr]

Personally I use Requiem for the way it handle weapon/magic/armour relation but its a total game overhaul so its gonna change everything from perks, enemies down to base game systems and its really isn't easy to get running on large modlist so not really worth it for you

 

 

For a less complicated mod there was Ordinator, changes a bunch of perks so your blacksmithing skill can let you build small deployable dwemer autocannon that shoot where you look at as example, sneak perks unlock access to traps and utility arrow ect

 

Hand to hand : adds an entire standalone unarmed perk tree for when you wanna play as a monk warrior making a full unarmed build possible

 

Precision to make weapon to feel more accurate in their hitbox (may cause some range issues you have to tweak out)

 

Valhalla combat : I see you already know it so no need to explain

 

Blade and blunt : Changes how stamina is used, block mechanics and some extras, more of a mini combat overhaul making things more lethal otherwise Wildcat fills a similar role

 

 

Edited May 5 by alphafr

[Fraying9981]

29 minutes ago, alphafr said:

Personally I use Requiem for the way it handle weapon/magic/armour relation but its a total game overhaul so its gonna change everything from perks, enemies down to base game systems and its really isn't easy to get running on large modlist so not really worth it for you

 

 

For a less complicated mod there was Ordinator, changes a bunch of perks so your blacksmithing skill can let you build small deployable dwemer autocannon that shoot where you look at as example, sneak perks unlock access to traps and utility arrow ect

 

Hand to hand : adds an entire standalone unarmed perk tree for when you wanna play as a monk warrior making a full unarmed build possible

 

Precision to make weapon to feel more accurate in their hitbox (may cause some range issues you have to tweak out)

 

Valhalla combat : I see you already know it so no need to explain

 

Blade and blunt : Changes how stamina is used, block mechanics and some extras, more of a mini combat overhaul making things more lethal otherwise Wildcat fills a similar role

 

 

 

thanks for sharing!

ordinator: yes forgot to mention it. amazing mod.

 

blade and blunt: compatible with valhalla and others?

[alphafr]

4 minutes ago, Fraying9981 said:

 

thanks for sharing!

ordinator: yes forgot to mention it. amazing mod.

 

blade and blunt: compatible with valhalla and others?

I use it with requiem and Valhalla so I guess it goes with anything

Edited May 5 by alphafr

[Paradox_of_Theseus]

This will depend a lot on what you are looking for, but I have been enjoying Wildcat (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1368) for a combat overhaul. Its light and the MCM provides a lot of tweaks you can customize so it plays well with any other combat mod. 

 

Speaking of which, the other one that you MAY like is Wounds (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17581). Its not really a combat overhaul per se, but it adds in some consequences for combat. I personally really like it. It makes combat feel riskier, especially if you bruise or break a limb mid-combat. The immersion of limping back to town and having to rest and heal up is something that tickles a specific itch, but it may be something you absolutely hate. I also like the addons that will show bruising or cuts on my character. From personal experience I have found this mod is more impactful on low level characters since the calculation for wounds depends a lot on your Armor rating. So higher level characters with better Armor Ratings get wounded far less. But I the MCM provides a lot of options to tweak the settings.

 

The other consequence mod I like is a Stress mod (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/116522) that gives a bit of a Darkest Dungeon flavor to things. Being in dungeons and fighting for your life can stress you out, and this mod can help you visualize that with blurred vision and heavy breathing as well as reducing your Stamina/Magicka. Bad experiences can also give you Trauma to certain enemies which is a fun role-play option. You can combat stress with things like Alcohol and Drugs as well as Sex which fits in great with a Loverslab-modded playthrough. 

[Fraying9981]

8 minutes ago, Paradox_of_Theseus said:

This will depend a lot on what you are looking for, but I have been enjoying Wildcat (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1368) for a combat overhaul. Its light and the MCM provides a lot of tweaks you can customize so it plays well with any other combat mod. 

 

Speaking of which, the other one that you MAY like is Wounds (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17581). Its not really a combat overhaul per se, but it adds in some consequences for combat. I personally really like it. It makes combat feel riskier, especially if you bruise or break a limb mid-combat. The immersion of limping back to town and having to rest and heal up is something that tickles a specific itch, but it may be something you absolutely hate. I also like the addons that will show bruising or cuts on my character. From personal experience I have found this mod is more impactful on low level characters since the calculation for wounds depends a lot on your Armor rating. So higher level characters with better Armor Ratings get wounded far less. But I the MCM provides a lot of options to tweak the settings.

 

The other consequence mod I like is a Stress mod (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/116522) that gives a bit of a Darkest Dungeon flavor to things. Being in dungeons and fighting for your life can stress you out, and this mod can help you visualize that with blurred vision and heavy breathing as well as reducing your Stamina/Magicka. Bad experiences can also give you Trauma to certain enemies which is a fun role-play option. You can combat stress with things like Alcohol and Drugs as well as Sex which fits in great with a Loverslab-modded playthrough. 

 

solid recommendations! the stress mod sounds like something I want to try

[Paradox_of_Theseus]

5 hours ago, Fraying9981 said:

 

solid recommendations! the stress mod sounds like something I want to try

 

The one warning I will give is that there are multiple Stress mods out there. I use a combo of them, but I have to make sure to turn the Stress portion off all but 1 of them off or your character will never recover! XD