What Are Some Must Have Mods for SKYRIM?

[Guest]

I'm new to pc gaming & I'm expecting My First pc game SKYRIM LEGENDARY EDITION in the mail in a few days. So I feel like a Kid in a Candy Shop basically bc I have been a console player since Super Nintendo & Super Street Fighter ll ~ Thanks

[Guest]

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Well it really depends on your specs and what you want in your game but i'll go ahead and recommend some to you that I personally can't live without.

 

ⓐ Modding Programs:

 

Do your research on these please don't choose NMM

 

1.) Mod Organizer ; By far the best hands down makes it easy to organize mods without screwing up your game

 

2.) Nexus Mod Manger ; This is a program they try to sell to beginners on the Nexus who don't know any better don't choose the blue pill!

 

3.) Wrye Bash ; Now this program is essential because one feature its bash patch that merges leveled lists.

 

ⓑ Complete Overhaul Mods:

 

What this is it basically changes perks, combat, races etc (choose one or none) when I say mod friendly I mean outside mods changing things is easier

 

1.) T3nd0s Skyrim Redone ; This mod is a bit older now fun with minor bugs and glitches played up to lvl 60 character successfully mod friendly 

 

2.) Requiem ; This is not really compatible with alot of mods requires alot of patches but the way he sets up this game makes for a harder play through good combat and use of stamina system.

 

3.) T3nd0s Perkus Maximus ; This is the newest overhaul and from what I played I like it alot perks are the best set in this mod with great mod support only issue is long patching times.

 

ⓒ Performance, Bug Fixing, and Essential Mods

 

These are no doubt must haves:

 

1.) SKSE ; Not really a mod, it is basically an alternate launcher for skyrim that applies fixes and without this you won't be able to use most all mods.

 

2.) SKSE.ini ; Fixes memory allocation from 246 to 512 meaning normally you crash at 246 memory but now you have more wiggle room.

 

3.) Better Message Box Controls ; This allows you to press "E" for dialogues and message boxes instead of using your mouse for everything.

 

4.) Unofficial Skyrim Patch ; These mods are years in the making by arthmoor who is a god, this fixes all sorts of fuckery remember to get dlc patches as well.

 

5.) Skyrim Project Optimization ; Improves interior performance

 

6.) ENB ; Now this fixes alot of issues as well as adds several graphics enhancements(optional), you'll find presets on the nexus for this RealVision being the most used.

 

7.) SkyUI ; This adds the ability for menus for most mods too function adds as well many different UI changes.

 

8.) Racemenu ; This changes the character creation menu allows for more changes even has a face editor.

 

9.) Alternate Start ; Creator of the Unofficial patches mod that allows you to choose a different start then the long 15min carriage seen be a vampire, necromancer or own a house or be shipwrecked your choice!

 

ⓓ Visual World & Effects Mods

 

1.) Climates of Tamriel ; Adds a weather system and more.

 

2.) Skyrim Flora Overhaul ; Better trees, grass, shrubs and more!

 

3.) HighResTexturePack ; This you need to download on Steam made by bethesda

 

4.) Water ; Make water better adds waves and all sorts of great effects

 

5.) Realistic Lighting Overhaul ; Now there are several but this one takes the cake IMO and is my favorite more realistic.

 

6.) Footprints ; Adds footprints to the ground/snow you walk on very immersive.

 

7.) Supreme Storms ; Better looking rain and effects amazing mod

 

8.) SMIM ; Fixes many of the meshes in skyrim a huge undertaking of all skyirm's meshes.

 

ⓔ Visual Character & Effects Mods

 

1.) Wet and Cold ; See water drip off character, applies blindness in blizzard and adds snow effects as well as hoods and clothing for weather system to npcs

 

2.) Enhanced Blood ; Better looking blood shows blood on characters body when you kill enemies or get hit

 

3.) Bloody Facials ; This makes it so blood appears on face

 

4.) Burn Freeze and Shock ; This mod adds effects to the enemies you kill if you use fire you'll see a burnt corps ice frozen etc.

 

5.) Get Snowy ; Applies snow effects to your character better than Wet and Cold in that 1 instance they are compatible with each other.

 

6.) Player Headtracking ; Allows your player to move there head and look at npcs they talk to or walk by depending on you disposition to that character also expressions.

 

7.) Ethereal Elven Overhaul ; Makes elves looks so much better a must get.

 

ⓕ NPC/Creatures 

 

1.) Immersive Creatures ; A ton of new creatures, new spawns and more

 

2.) Bijin WarMaidens ; Better looking housecarls and other very cute characters followers with this mod.

 

3.) Convenient Horses ; Choose between several horse skins and saddles, change anything about your horse whistle to call horse quest.

 

4.) Interesting Npcs ; Adds fully voiced new npcs to that game

 

5.) Inconsequential Npcs ; does the same as well as add workers extra helpers for the blacksmith things like that.

 

6.) Immersive Wenches ; adds wenches to taverns and the roads very well done mod.

 

7.) Populated lands road path ; Has several mods that add more npcs/enemies to roads, forts, caves, prisons and towns.

 

8.) Rs Children ; Better looking children

 

Ⓖ Gameplay

 

COMBAT

 

Now this is all personal preference choose the ones that sound best to you.

 

1.) Combat Evolved ; Difficulty increaser this one works in tandem with other combat overhauls

 

2.) Deadly Combat ; More a fully fledged out combat overhaul, stagger system is not the best kinda confusing context menu but it gets the job done with plenty of options.

 

3.) Duel - Combat Realism ; This mod adds more behavior in how the enemy fight and minor tweaks to stamina etc good to use with Combat Evolved.

 

4.) NPC Knockout Overhaul ; Simple enough allow you to knock out Npc if they hit a certain threshold percentages configurable.

 

5.) Dual Wield Parry ; Allows you to set a block hotkey that allows you to block while dual wielding.

 

DEATH

 

1.) Death Alternative ; Death no longer stops your adventure, get robbed, saved, trapped, imprisoned and ugh sexy time things.

 

2.) VioLens ; Killmove mod allows for several new killmoves and configurable

 

3.) Deadly Mutilation ; Allows you to literally dismember your foes....brutal!

 

QUEST/CITY

 

1.) Cutting Room Floor ; Finishes quests Bethesda was suppose to have in the game creator of the Unofficial patches.

 

2.) The Paathurmax Dilemma ; Always hated how you had to choose to kill Paathurmax to advance the main quest now you can make the choice and tell the blades to fuck off.

 

3.) ETAC ; Adds several much needed improvements to the towns of skyrim.

 

4.) Snow City ; An expansion of Windhelm looks amazing

 

5.)

 

 

Ⓗ Immersion

 

1.) Frostfall ; The wilderness is dangerous deal with freezing to death, build campfires and avoid getting wet. Very fun an unobtrusive mod

 

2.) RND or iNEED ; Both do the same thing essentially giving the need eat/sleep/drink essential for survival, I would prefer RND but iNEED is not abandoned.

 

3.) Immersive detection ; Better detection in light and dark areas for sneaking, a must have mod for me for sure.

 

4.) Realistic Room Rentals ; Allows you to change the prices for several inns to a more appropriate setting.

 

5.) Farm animals ; Adds farm animals to several pins/farms in skyrim small fun mod

 

6.) Dynamic Things ; Good with frostfall allows you to chop down trees collect wood, destroy containers even make them safe containers, even break stone and use pickaxe in realtime.

 

7.) Better Fast Travel ; allows carriages and ships so you don't have to worry about constantly map traveling even go to places you never been.

 

8.) Convenient Bridges ; Adds natural bridges to skyrim to get to and from easier, bridges can be anything a fallen tree perhaps!

 

Ⓘ Useful

 

1.) SM Drop Torches ; You can now drop torches and they stay lit if you have a torch drawn and decide to go into combat it will drop your torch so you can see as well as giving you a torch hotkey.

 

2.) More Hotkeys Please ; a very easy mod allowing you to set hotkeys for instance with just the "A' hotkey you can have four hotkeys, normal, doubletap, hold, and modifier.

 

3.) Auto Unequip Ammo ; Now you don't have to worry about equipping/unequipping arrows it does it automatically when you equip your bow.

 

4.) Face Light ; A spell you can put on your characters face so you can see it in the dark be surprised how much you wanted this when you use it.

 

I'll add more later....

[Duoleb The Chosen]

there's no need for NPC mods, unless if it is immersive patrols and a few npc or follower edits like EEO

 

RLO SUCKS FOR DUNGEONS AND INTERIORS, stay with ELFX, its more compatible and more updated + the Climates Weather patch and Real shelter

 

Perkus Sucks for potions, and if you are using something like Immersive creatures, then you are fucked up, also as someone pointed up(trainwiz himself) Perma system is trying too HARD to be Baldur's gate, what the fuck you would want a RL timed spell, also most of the Perk Trees SUCKS

 

Requiem is more Oblivion-morrowind ish and hardcore, SPERG is simply Light Requiem but without the eternal search for Patches, but if you Hate skyrim leveling system and perk tree, then this mod is yours

 

Skyrim HD DLC IS HORRIBLE and badly compressed "2gb of pure crap", Vivid Landscapes is far miles better and lighter

 

 

Enhanced Camera and Immersive 1st persion are both good, but Enhanced camera has a easy config, and the guy who made it is the one who made The ones for Oblivion, morrowind and Fallout 3/NV

 

 

Omegared99 and Hothtrooper's armors and weapons are your best friends, there's Ghosu but no one cares about it

 

For Uniques: Daedric Dawnbreaker, Volendrung and the Revenge of Malacath, InsanitySorrow Unique Uniques, Morrowloot4e(Don't forget to pick the mesh ctd fix and the Dual sheath meshes)

 

Wintermyst and Enchanted Arsenal

[Guest]

Thanks for the links & descriptions lol

[Guest]

there's no need for NPC mods, unless if it is immersive patrols and a few npc or follower edits like EEO

 

RLO SUCKS FOR DUNGEONS AND INTERIORS, stay with ELFX, its more compatible and more updated + the Climates Weather patch and Real shelter

 

Perkus Sucks for potions, and if you are using something like Immersive creatures, then you are fucked up, also as someone pointed up(trainwiz himself) Perma system is trying too HARD to be Baldur's gate, what the fuck you would want a RL timed spell, also most of the Perk Trees SUCKS

 

Requiem is more Oblivion-morrowind ish and hardcore, SPERG is simply Light Requiem but without the eternal search for Patches, but if you Hate skyrim leveling system and perk tree, then this mod is yours

 

Skyrim HD DLC IS HORRIBLE and badly compressed "2gb of pure crap", Vivid Landscapes is far miles better and lighter

 

 

Enhanced Camera and Immersive 1st persion are both good, but Enhanced camera has a easy config, and the guy who made it is the one who made The ones for Oblivion, morrowind and Fallout 3/NV

 

 

Omegared99 and Hothtrooper's armors and weapons are your best friends, there's Ghosu but no one cares about it

 

For Uniques: Daedric Dawnbreaker, Volendrung and the Revenge of Malacath, InsanitySorrow Unique Uniques, Morrowloot4e(Don't forget to pick the mesh ctd fix and the Dual sheath meshes)

 

Wintermyst and Enchanted Arsenal

 

 

Wow you have no idea what you're talking about lol

 

"there's no need for NPC mods, unless if it is immersive patrols and a few npc or follower edits like EEO"

 

No need? That is a complete bias and is relative on what you want out of your skyrim experience let him choose give him information on how to choose don't make that choice for him, Immersive patrols is good.

 

"RLO SUCKS FOR DUNGEONS AND INTERIORS, stay with ELFX,"

 

No it doesn't suck you fuckwit it honestly pisses me off when authors work so hard on something to have people like you with these toxic opinions, not hating on ELFX never actually used it so I can not recommend it myself but RLO looks amazing too me.

 

"its more compatible and more updated + the Climates Weather patch and Real shelter"

 

Compatible with Real shelter please for the life of me can you tell me how a lighting mod has any effect on real shelter hmmmm? More compatible!?! I haven't had compatibility issues with RLO not once and lets look at the page shall we, excerpt here "Our main goal is compatibility, stability and providing an FPS friendly alternative to post processing.." you hear that? Wait a sec are there any compatibility patches for RLO?

 

Here is another "Realistic Lighting Overhaul is basically compatible with nearly every mod out there because it is so modular in nature. You can virtually pick whatever module you want and use it with other mods as long as they are modular in nature also. This means this mod is compatible with the great CLimates of Tamriel weather mod, Frostfall, Minty's Lightning mod, all ENB's and much much more. You are not forced into using anything if you do not want to.

The mod is even compatible with Dynavision, Imaginator and other weather mods. In fact, our interiors will adapt to other weather mods if you should have the need to install our interiors with another weather mod. You will instantly see changes in brightness, saturation levels hue, all according to the weather mod installed! " Please don't provide false information.

 

"Skyrim HD DLC IS HORRIBLE and badly compressed "2gb of pure crap", Vivid Landscapes is far miles better and lighter"

 

You're right for the most part but with the unofficial resolution patch and Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized it is fine, vivid landscapes unless optimized brings my system to a crawl GTX780 +230 mods although good textures.

 

"there's Ghosu but no one cares about it"

 

Umm.....Fuck you?

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the links & descriptions lol

 

You're welcome i'll give you more and also if when you're modding and need help just pass me a message i'll be willing to help

[Guest]

 

 

Thanks for the links & descriptions lol

You're welcome i'll give you more and also if when you're modding and need help just pass me a message i'll be willing to help

 

 

Thanks for the links & descriptions lol

You're welcome i'll give you more and also if when you're modding and need help just pass me a message i'll be willing to help

Thanks, I actually started studying Ghophers tutorials on YouTube & some CK stuff so I can one day flesh out a plethora of ideas I want to play out in Skyrim (:

 

Also MMOxReview on YT showcases great mods I can't wait to use, you should check it out

[nutluck]

If you are completely knew to modding Skyrim before you do anything at all with mods I recommend you watch Gophers video series A Beginners Guide to Modding Skyrim. Watch that series and maybe even mod along with it, pausing the video's to do it yourself at the same time.

 

That is what I did and by the end of the series I had a very good grasp of how to mod Skyrim. Then if you have questions you will be better able to tell us what's wrong and better able to follow any advice we give to fixing any problems you have.

 

You can find the video series here.

Link.

[Rayblue]

Something else to know: do NOT rely on Nexus' top 10 mods without first reading on what they actually do before downloading.

[Sarathis]

Something else to know: do NOT rely on Nexus' top 10 mods without first reading on what they actually do before downloading.

 

Agreed.

 

Reading what mods do, how to install them, what their requirements are, and through at least two full pages of player feedback should be considered mandatory before loading something into one's game. I think everybody falls into that trap when they first start modding. They read the basic description of a mod think it sounds cool, then just lets it rip in their game without doing any research on it. I know I did, and my save files, patience, and sanity paid for it. Constant CTDs without knowing why is not an experience I'd ever want to repeat.

 

People always want to see how these fun things look in their game when they first start, before they know anything about modding. Some patience and a lot of reading will help save a lot of headaches, though.

[Guest]

 

 

Something else to know: do NOT rely on Nexus' top 10 mods without first reading on what they actually do before downloading.

Agreed.

 

Reading what mods do, how to install them, what their requirements are, and through at least two full pages of player feedback should be considered mandatory before loading something into one's game. I think everybody falls into that trap when they first start modding. They read the basic description of a mod think it sounds cool, then just lets it rip in their game without doing any research on it. I know I did, and my save files, patience, and sanity paid for it. Constant CTDs without knowing why is not an experience I'd ever want to repeat.

 

People always want to see how these fun things look in their game when they first start, before they know anything about modding. Some patience and a lot of reading will help save a lot of headaches, though.

Got it (: but would it be considered free of CrashToDesktop(s) if they were thoroughly reviewed by popular Channels on YouTube like Machinima & MMOxReview?

But I'm guessing I should totally read the full description, pre requisites/requirements, & user feedback for sex based loverslab mods?

[Sarathis]

Got it (: but would it be considered free of CrashToDesktop(s) if they were thoroughly reviewed by popular Channels on YouTube like Machinima & MMOxReview?

But I'm guessing I should totally read the full description, pre requisites/requirements, & user feedback for sex based loverslab mods?

 

You should read the full description, requirements, and a goodly amount of feedback for ALL mods, not just the ones people put here. Not every CTD is caused by bugs or poorly designed scripts. The most common cause of CTDs is one's load order, putting a mod in front of another and creating a conflict.

 

Just because a mod has been reviewed doesn't mean that it's completely bug free and it definitely doesn't mean that it's going to play nicely with all the other mods you're going to load in addition to it. People often review house mods, for example, and those can be notoriously script filled and tempermental. Reading the feedback will give you a better understanding of how the mod in question reacts in different people's load orders. The more educated you are on how a mod works and what can interfere with its functions, the better you'll be able to deal with inevitable problems.

 

[illicitx]

Respectful Lydia. Removes that stupid "I am sworn to carry your burdens" line

[Guest]

Respectful Lydia. Removes that stupid "I am sworn to carry your burdens" line

Lol

Respectful Lydia. Removes that stupid "I am sworn to carry your burdens" line

Lol

[trpd]

Must have? SKSE and SKYUI as most mods around will require those. Beyond that is matter what you want to mod.

I guess lighting mod could be also considered a must - RLO and ELFX are main competitors but there are also others. ENBs are made with one or other in mind so i would pick ENB first and then use the suggested setup.

 

YT mod spotlights and categories on nexus are good place to search for mods. Just have some sense and don't pick mods just because they are popular - so if there is super popular hair mod still ask yourself if you find default hairs lacking , what other hair mods are there , what mods will it colide with (hair mods don't colide with others but many mods will).

 

For mod manager i would stick to NMM(nexus mod manager) if you are new - it is simple , it gets job done. With MO you will get easily overwhelmed it is nr1 problem for people having problems with mods not working - they use MO without knowing what is under the hood.

 

 

[jfraser]

Respectful Lydia. Removes that stupid "I am sworn to carry your burdens" line

I love that line, and especially her delivery of it. 

 

Most of the suggestions are really opinions, of course. You'll have to play around with things to see what you really like. NMM is fine, so don't be afraid to use it.

 

You absolutely do need SKSE and SKYUI, and I recommend the unofficial patches for Skyrim and all of the DLC's - they each have one. I don't use a lighting mod - they don't really add that much, imho, but clearly others disagree (see the previous paragraph). Point is, I wouldn't consider one a requirement.

 

No matter what mods you choose, you will always experience a few CTDs. It's just part of modded Skyrim. Hell, it's part of unmodded Skyrim. Just save often.

[smiff]

Bar the obvious graphic mods to make the game look amazing I think audio mods are seriously underrated/over looked.

Skyrim audio overhaul and Sky birds-Listen to the birds really blew me away.

There is also a mod to have a custom soundtrack which im currently working on peicing together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hopbu5Lz6GE

Thats my current dragon combat music.

 

P.S as you are completely new to modding skyrim I would suggest looking at STEP Project. Has really helped me.

[Sarathis]

P.S as you are completely new to modding skyrim I would suggest looking at STEP Project. Has really helped me.

 

I would also tentatively agree with this. I learned a LOT from the STEP Project and my game got 10x more stable from following most of its suggestions but it IS kind of advanced if you're brand spanking new to modding. The directions are clear and you can follow them but it can be confusing for newbs who aren't familiar with what things do and how they work. By all means follow in their footsteps but try to learn as much as you can about what changes they suggest and why.

 

[Gagoloth]

Crime Bounty Decay

Skyrim's crime system seemed like something of a wasted potential. It's got the whole Dukes of Hazzard, "get across county lines" thing going, where your crimes in one hold have no weight in another...except that the guards never forget about that time you hung around in the apothecary's too long after closing time, so you eventually have to pay your fines off anyway, or else deal with the guards saying "Wait...I know you" every time you pass by.

 

Well, no more. Now, your crimes will slowly be forgotten when you spend time in other holds, reducing the bounty that you have to pay to be redeemed before the eyes of gods and man and mer, and eventually leaving you entirely in the clear. Every night, at midnight, (or at the nearest time afterward that the script has the chance to evaluate), your bounty will decrease in every hold, as long as you're not actually in the main settlement of that hold at the time

 

 

Melee Weapon Range Fix

This is a very small mod I made to address two issues:

 

1. I was quite annoyed by the fact that a longsword could hit a wall or objects from too far away. I play 1stPerson as much as possible, but even there I found it quite annoying. I didn't found anything which addresses this problem so I made it myself and I thought that some of you would like to have a fix for that as well.

 

2. The second thing I address with this mod is the fighting distance. The distance you must have to hit an enemy now is much more realistic, that means no more getting hit by the air in front of the enemies weapon.

[Kimy]

It's really a matter of taste more often than not.

 

Mods I consider essential are:

- any mod manager (in contrast to what the Mod Organizer fans will usually tell you, NMM is good enough)

- The Unofficial Patches (all of them)

- SKSE

- Racemenu

- RLO + SweetFX (in my humble opinion it looks much better than most ENBs, plus it doesn't kill your framerate unlike most ENBs)

- Death Alternative

- Live Another Life

- Climates of Tamriel + Supreme Storms

- SPERG (It's a perk overhaul that in contrast to SkyRe/PerMa isn't remotely as intrusive and much more compatible with other mods)

- PISE (don't laugh, I know it's old, but I prefer it over any newer combat overhaul mod)

- Monster Mod for mob variety

- OBIS for mob variety

 

If you like realism get Realistic Needs and Diseases, Frostfall and Bathing in Skyrim

 

Characters:

- XPMS Skeleton + Body mod of your choice (I prefer Bodyslide CBBE over anything else, but that's REALLY a matter of taste)

- Remodeled Armor (best vanilla armor replacer IMHO)

- Apachii Hair (get all of them, they are really awesome!)

- Babes of Skyrim (despite its name it will actually replace the guys with better looking models as well)

 

Follower Overhaul: You probably want Amazing Follower Tweaks.

 

Naughty Stuff:

You will want SexLab and Non SexLab Animations plus SexLab Solutions and SexLab Stories as a sheer minimum.

[smiff]

 

P.S as you are completely new to modding skyrim I would suggest looking at STEP Project. Has really helped me.

 

I would also tentatively agree with this. I learned a LOT from the STEP Project and my game got 10x more stable from following most of its suggestions but it IS kind of advanced if you're brand spanking new to modding. The directions are clear and you can follow them but it can be confusing for newbs who aren't familiar with what things do and how they work. By all means follow in their footsteps but try to learn as much as you can about what changes they suggest and why.

 

 

 

Well thats true, It comprensiveness can be daunting and that can be a big issue because if the mountain looks too big to climb you're not gona bloody chance it.  I suppose the best way to mod skyrim is dive right in, have a blast, learn as you go. Eventually break your game like I'm sure almost everyone has at some point, start again and this time have a good read of step and any other guide you can get your hands on.

 

[Guest]

 

 

Respectful Lydia. Removes that stupid "I am sworn to carry your burdens" line

I love that line, and especially her delivery of it.

 

Most of the suggestions are really opinions, of course. You'll have to play around with things to see what you really like. NMM is fine, so don't be afraid to use it.

 

You absolutely do need SKSE and SKYUI, and I recommend the unofficial patches for Skyrim and all of the DLC's - they each have one. I don't use a lighting mod - they don't really add that much, imho, but clearly others disagree (see the previous paragraph). Point is, I wouldn't consider one a requirement.

 

No matter what mods you choose, you will always experience a few CTDs. It's just part of modded Skyrim. Hell, it's part of unmodded Skyrim. Just save often.

Yep I saw Gophers Begginers Guide for Modders. I already DL NMM & since I just got my Skrym LE today I'm planning on getting SKSE & FNIS as well as what Ghopher suggested about the HD DLC & unofficial patches & of course SKYui. I actually meant what are ur guy's Favorite mods lol.

 

But (1) do I download MCM from nexus (2) do I download LoversLab mods with NMM (3) is it okay to rely dependent on BOSS for my load

orders?

 

~ Thank you stranger(s) (:

[nutluck]

Use LOOT instead of BOSS for load order. LOOT is BOSS 3.0 but a completely rewrite done by the same people. Just keep in mind while LOOT will give you a good load order and most times there will be no problems. Double check your load order based on recommendations from the mods you use.

[Guest]

Use LOOT instead of BOSS for load order. LOOT is BOSS 3.0 but a completely rewrite done by the same people. Just keep in mind while LOOT will give you a good load order and most times there will be no problems. Double check your load order based on recommendations from the mods you use.

Thanks nutluck but where can I find "LOOT"? (:

[nutluck]

https://loot.github.io/