Skyrim gets some hate these days, since it was first released in 2011 and although Bethesda is supposedly working on Elder Scrolls VI, we’ve seen practically nothing of the game. However, you have to admit that Skyrim is still around for a reason: it’s fun, especially if you mod it, and new mods get released all the time. Since Bethesda’s next big open world game, Starfield, won’t be released until September, I thought it’d be nice to share our favorite Skyrim mods to help deal with the wait.
I’ll start with some longtime staples of mine:
Skyrim Script Extender - A prerequisite for a ton of mods. Basically, it adds commands to the game’s scripting language, which allows modders to create scripts that support more situations and variables in the game, beyond what is normally possible.
SkyUI - An overhaul to the UI, which makes everything easier to navigate on PC. Also adds the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM), which is used by a ton of other mods. Todd Howard himself endorses this one.
Better Dialogue Controls - Maybe it’s just me, but I constantly had issues in vanilla Skyrim with the game picking the wrong dialogue option because of some weird glitch in the UI. So, here’s another UI tweak. Basic, but a real “quality of life” upgrade for me.
RaceMenu - Like SkyUI, overhauls the character creation menu and adds RGB sliders for skin color, hair color, war paint and makeup. When combined with body mesh replacing mods, such as Caliente’s Beautiful Bodies Edition (CBBE), you can also tweak specific body parts to do things like give female Nord and Orc warriors actual muscles. We start to cross into NSFW territory real fast with this one, though.
Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim - Adds a few dozen spells to the game, greatly expanding the relatively limited amount of spells found in vanilla Skyrim. This is especially true for Master-level spells.
Naturally, there are mods that upgrade the textures to 2k or 4k, as well as ENB, which is a resource-heavy overhaul to the lighting in the game. I don’t currently have a favorite texture pack or ENB though, since new ones come out on a fairly regular basis and I like to experiment with new configurations.
Anyway, that’s enough from me. Looking forward to seeing other peoples’ favorites!
I always get Legacy of the Dragonborn. It’s fun to have a museum to collect stuff in and it brings in some steady gold. It also has its own quests you can do.
Alternate start: live another life - is a must to skip the intro wagon scene
Rich skyrim merchants - Can pick how rich they are. Makes it easier to sell the stuff I hoard all at once
Khajiits steal too - Allows the Khajiit caravans to buy stolen items
Legacy of the Dragonborn felt so laser-targeted to me when I found it. I would already fill the house display racks with named weapons - now I get to keep everything
Right! I pick up/steal everything that isn’t nailed down so its nice to have somewhere to put all of it on display.
Yep, Live Another Life is usually in my list too. I inevitably wind up downloading a mod that breaks the wagon scene, so it’s a life saver.
Yep, It wouldn’t be Skyrim modding if something didn’t break lol. For me I just hate sitting through it over and over again. Its also nice to have different starting locations or being able to start with a house right away
Doesn’t that one conflict with a lot of other mods? I’ve been using Optional Quick Start to skip the intro.
I never ran into any issues with it and I used to heavily mod my Skyrim lol