The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim remains a milestone game more than five years after its initial release. And since it doesn’t look like we’re getting another entry in Bethesda’s RPG series for a while longer (no, Elder Scrolls Online doesn’t count), even the most dedicated Skyrim player might be looking for ways to get some new life out of the original game.
Fortunately, modders have been making vanilla Skyrim better since the game came out. And we’re not just talking about improving the graphics, either (though graphics mods are awesome). At this point, there are mods that add new characters, questlines, enemies, spells, and even new areas to explore. If Skyrim was starting to feel a little dull after five years, these mods will make it feel fresh again.
What You’ll Need
This guide is for the original PC version of Skyrim, not the Special Edition. The original game has the best selection of mods. Some might be available for the Special Edition too (and a few are also on the Xbox One and PS4 versions), but the original PC game is still the way to go if you want to customize your experience.
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In addition, some of the more advanced mods can’t be found on the Steam Workshop, which is the de facto repository (and the easiest to use for beginners). For more complex fare, you’ll want to upgrade to the third-party Nexus Mod Manager, which we’ve shown you how to use here. You might want to start with Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE), a prerequisite for many advanced game mods. Lots of them need the Mod Configuration Menu as well.
A Better User Interface
The user interface in Skyrim is designed to be usable with both a mouse and keyboard and a standard console controller. Regrettably, that means it’s not particularly good at either of them, including a lot of tedious scrolling and no real options for organization. Enter SkyUI, the overhauled custom user interface. With this installed you can search your inventory by text, organize items by weight when you’re over encumbered, colored icons for item types, and integration across all shop and lootable menus, too.
New Followers
The follower system is a staple of Bethesda RPGs. But most of the companions you can recruit in Skyrim are either fairly limited characters designed to be battle companions, or tied to specific quests and unavailable for the longer game. There are a wide variety of add-on followers available as game mods that insert new characters specifically designed to be interesting or useful. Some of the best examples include custom-recorded voice lines from the community, full backstories and quests that flesh out the character, and unique equipment to make them stand out from the polygonal crowd. Inigo the good-natured Khajit wanderer and Vilja the generational warrior are good places to start.
Better Dragons
The massive dragon battles in Skyrim differentiate it from the rest of The Elder Scrolls, and they were a huge selling point before the game’s release. But after a few dozen hours, dragons cease to be any particular challenge, and there are only a handful of different types. To add some spice to Tamriel’s skies, try the Diverse Dragons Collection, an omnibus mod that combines custom dragons from a bunch of different creators. These souped-up beasts come with custom attacks and creature models, special effects, and lots of combat modifiers that can make them a real challenge. Speaking of which, if all you want is more epic dragon fights, you can try Deadly Dragons (which can be combined with Diverse Dragons Collection). If you want even more motivation to become a legendary dragon slayer, try a “souls for perks” mod, which lets you trade a leveled amount of dragon souls for skill improvements instead of the standard dragon shouts.
More Magic and Tougher Combat
Skyrim’s magic and combat aren’t its best features—games like Dark Souls and Shadow of Mordor have it beaten dead to rights when it comes to the sheer mechanical joy of fighting. Modders, thankfully, have expanded both of these areas. Duel makes combat more deadly, making it more important to dodge attacks and find the right time to strike rather than simply tanking or blocking all damage. You’ll have to use actual tactics in each and every fight… something most Skyrim players probably haven’t done since they maxed out their Smithing score. There’s not much that can be done for Skyrim’s magic system except expand the spells and effects, but several mods do that to a spectacular degree, including Midas Magic Evolved and Apocalypse Magic.
Explore New Lands
Easily the most ambitious Skyrim mods are the ones that add entirely new areas to the game, or transform existing ones with a ton of new content. Falskaar is surely the biggest of the big, adding a whole new island to the land of Skyrim brimming with new characters, new quests, and a new storyline to follow. It’s full of dozens of custom voiced characters, new equipment, spells, and books, and even custom-made music. There’s also Enderal: The Shards of Order, a total conversion that essentially creates an original fantasy RPG using Skyrim as its backbone. With a completely customized continent and dozens of hours’ worth of quests and gameplay, you can think of this as a community-made companion game (that just happens to be free). A few other examples include Moonpath to Elsewyr, The Forgotten City, and The Cyrodiil Frontier.
…Or Just Change the Wallpaper
Keema aloo recipe l mutton mince l cooking with benazir.mp4. There are innumerable mods out there that are made and installed just for fun, like the one that replaces dragons with Thomas the Tank Engine or adds a custom “IKEA-born” race. But for a bit of fun that doesn’t actually change Skyrim‘s core gameplay, I recommend Uncle Sheogorath’s custom loading screens. This mod replaces the flavor text that appears whenever you go to a new area with sarcastic and goofy alternative descriptions. It’s a great way to get a quick chuckle without messing up the balance of the rest of the game.
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Skyrim Special Edition brought advanced support for modding with 64-bit on PC, meaning players can load up more heavy mods with fewer issues and instability. For all the mods listed in this round-up, we'll be using the Nexus platform and the Nexus Mod Manager to install them. Here are the best mods you should install for your next Skyrim playthrough.
See where you're going: A Quality World Map
The map isn't necessarily bad in Skyrim, but there are a few improvements that A Quality World Map by IcePenguin brings to the table. The mod includes a set of highly-detailed world map textures, complete with roads. This is a must-have for anyone who enjoys walking (or riding) everywhere without the use of fast travel. This mod also adds a detailed Solsteim map. And there's even a paper-style map!
Free at Mod Nexus
Start a new life: Alternate Start
When modding Skyrim, some bad things can happen, especially during the opening scene. This is a heavily scripted part of the game and one that can cause problems if you have mods that interfere with Bethesda's code. Alternate Start provides the option to skip the start of the game altogether, protecting against crashes, and can even allow for some interesting role-playing adventures.
Free at Mod Nexus
Call down the heavens: Apocalypse
This is an important mod for anyone looking to do a mage build. You get 155 new spells, all of which are added to existing vendors and loot lists, no script bloat for enhanced performance, compatibility with many other spell-related mods, and the ability for unique mage builds that do not focus on destruction or conjuration. You will need ASIS (Automatic Spells, Increased Spawns) for NPCs to be given new items and spells.
Free at Mod Nexus
Make torches useful: Darker Nights
As the name suggests, this mod makes the nights in Skyrim darker, depending on personal preference. For many, the evenings in Skyrim were far too bright, and Darker Nights provide the option of 6 different levels that can be set to create a more atmospheric experience during the late and early hours of each day.
Free at Mod Nexus
Skryim never looked so good: Enhanced Lights and FX
Enhanced Lights and FX is a sizeable mod that creates a more dynamic and realistic mood to the Skyrim landscape by adding actual lighting to all light sources and removing any light without a source, as well as the addition of numerous effects including smoke, volumic lights, and more. If you want dungeons, interiors, and Skyrim in general, to look better, you need to install ELFX. Just don't install the weather part of the mod if you plan to use True Storms.
Free at Mod Nexus
Walk-in wardrobe: Immersive Armors
Skyrim has a bunch of armors already available, but Immersive Amors is a mod that takes kitting out your characters (and NPCs) to the next level. 55 new sets are included, alongside 396 shields and various other miscellaneous apparel items. That's a lot of new items to play around with. Different sets and items have specific stats that are integrated into the game through quest rewards, placement in dungeons, and given to certain people.
Free at Mod Nexus
Countless ways for decapitation: Immersive Weapons
Much like the Immersive Armors mod, Skyrim has a number of weapons already available for you to use, but Immersive Weapons adds around 230 more, not to mention new weapon sets to make various new melee builds viable. Not only is it great to see and use the new weapons, but hothtrooper44 made sure that the mod doesn't have a negative impact on the lore, just in case you wish to play as close to vanilla as possible.
Free at Mod Nexus
Choose your starsign: OrdinatorBest Skyrim Mods On Steam
The perk tree could do with some improvements to make each playthrough and build feel more interesting and unique. This is where Ordinator comes in, adding more than 400 perks to the game, completely overhauling each skill tree. You'll need to visit the Nexus page to see all the perks added, but it's a comprehensive list and Ordinator is a mod I simply cannot play without.
Free at Mod Nexus
Fus-Ro-Dah: Realistic Ragdolls and Force
The ragdoll effect in Skyrim can lead to some hilarious situations, including those moments when a giant will send you to outer space with a whack of its club. That's no good for role-playing and immersion, which is where Realistic Ragdolls and Force can lend a hand. Bodies now react to gravity and force more realistically. It's a small, but effective, mod.
Free at Mod Nexus
Shimmering splendar: Realistic Water Two
With the updated water flow system and more included in Skyrim Special Edition, mods that affect the natural liquid are now more important when the aim is to create a more realistic-looking environment. Realistic Water Two takes Bethesda's improved system and takes everything to the next level with higher quality effects and textures, not to mention more accurate water body movement depending on the location (sea, river, pond, etc.).
Free at Mod Nexus
![]() Seriously. Run.: Run for your lives
Run for your lives is a package of two handy mods, developed and uploaded by the same author. Run for your lives and When vampires attack affects the way NPCs react to dragon and vampire attacks, namely those who are unable to fight back. Instead of witnessing absolute carnage due to citizens of Skyrim not fleeing to the safe indoors, installing these mods lets you fight off deadly beasts with guards by your side.
Free at Mod Nexus
Must-have tool: Skyrim Script Extender 64-bit
Finally, the extremely talented modders behind the exceptional Skyrim Script Extender has released a version in beta that works wonderfully with Skryim SE. What this tool allows you to do is install mods that require additional functionality that the base game engine simply cannot offer. I'm talking a better UI experience that wasn't designed for consoles, more feature-packed mods, and more.
Just make sure you download and install the version for SE and not the old Skyrim. Afterward, you need to launch the SKSE64 .exe and not the Skyrim executable through Steam.
Free at SKSE
How the UI should be by default: SkyUI
This is currently an early testing build of the excellent SkyUI mods, but it's well worth checking out now. What it does is revamps the entire UI, allowing you to more easily navigate your inventory and such, seeing more information at a glance.
Free at Mod Nexus
Better looking ropes: Static Mesh Improvement Mod
SMIM is a huge mod. And by huge we mean massive in both scale and size of the download. Totaling nearly 1GB, this package contains a bunch of improved 3D models for various things like robs, chains, lanterns, and other objects. It's particularly effective if you're one to notice when things look slightly out of place or aren't high-quality assets.
Free at Mod Nexus
Uncover hidden secrets: The Forgotten City
How does an expansion sound? The Forgotten City has you covered with an award-winning unofficial experience, backed by superb writing, original orchestral score, and voiced dialog that offers around eight hours of gameplay. You're tasked with entering an underground Dwarven city and uncover a mystery, and it's non-linear too with multiple endings.
If you've finished the main plot numerous times and are soon running out of things to do, give The Forgotten City a go.
Free at Mod Nexus
Make Skyrim feel more alive: True Storms
The weather effects in Skyrim are pretty good, but since everything was compiled way back in 2011, there's definitely room for improvement. Cue True Storms. This is a must-have mod for anyone looking to create a more immersive Skyrim experience with the weather really adding to every outing. It brings fog, variable weather, high-quality sound effects, new textures, dust storms, and more.
Free at Mod Nexus
Fixes Bethesda never made: Unofficial Skyrim: SE Patch
This is a must-have download for anyone, even if you do not wish to get into modding your Skyrim install. As the name suggests, it's a compiled package of fixes, improvements, and additions to the title. Hundreds of gameplay, quest, NPC, object, item, text and placement bugs have been fixed. Seriously, there's no reason as to why you shouldn't install this patch.
Free at Mod Nexus
Choosing the best mods
The absolute must-have mods for Skyrim include SKSE, SkyUI, and Alternate Start. The rest depends on your system specifications, your desired playstyle and what type of content you want to add to the world of Skyrim.
But what are your favorite mods for Skyrim Special Edition? Are there any you have for Skyrim that have yet to be ported? Sound off in the comments. We'd also like to thank modders for their continued support in extending the enjoyment of games, particularly Skyrim. You guys are incredible.
The single greatest benefit of owning The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on PC is the plethora of modding opportunities available to you. Nearly every facet of the game can be altered in some way, which practically washes away any possible flaw or issue you might have with it. Felt the game was too easy? Add a difficulty mod, making your experience more akin to Dark Souls. Feel there isn't enough content in the game? There's dozens of free expansion packs available. Want the game darker, brighter, prettier, more immersive? There are mods for all of those things too. These mods can radically alter the experience, crafting an RPG that meets the needs of any individual player. Looking for mods to install is like going to the store for your favourite game and finding hundreds of DLC packs tailored specifically to you. On sale. Like for free. Forever. From new maps and quests to minor tweaks and new armour sets, the additions you can make to your game are innumerable, allowing for an infinite amount of customisation. Detractors of modding might say that it's better to play these games 'The way they're meant to be played', but it could be argued that a fully modded Skyrim isthe way it's meant to be played, as if the developers could have made the game bigger, better, and more beautiful, they would have done, right?
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