Good Mods for first timers?

[LadyMara1996]

So, I recently got a new pc. First thing I did was get Skyrim. I've got it all running and as a seasoned player from consoles, I have no idea which mods to install as the basics.

 

So which visual mods and such? Immersion mods, quest mods- point is I would like to know the best mods for people like me. Who have heard all the hype of pc Skyrim, switched to pc and have no clue where to start?

 

Help? Please? :)

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

You should just start with couple basic mods and then as you progress upgrade your mod list.

 

Required:

SKSE - Most gameplay mods depend on skse and won't run without it. http://skse.silverlock.org/

Mod Organizer - Alternative for Nexus Mod Manager. Recommended for all players.

LOOT - Tool for sorting mod load order.

TES5Edit - Tool for cleaning dirty edits/etc.

SkyUI - Ingame menu that supports mods.

Youtube guides - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7DlYarj-DdhDG41roBVJfNCqvO5MmKP

FNIS - Required when installing mods introducing new animations.

XP32 Maximum Skeleton - Required for body mesh replacer mods and some character animation mods.

 

Good to have:

iHud

Alternate Start - Live Another Life

Amazing Follower Tweaks or Extensible Follower Framework

Convenient Horses

Perkus Maximus

Immersive Detection of NPC

Combat Evolved (+combat mod of your choice: Ultimate Combat, Duel-Combat Realism, etc)

 

 

HOT:

Combat Drama Overhaul

RND or iNeed

Frostfall

Death Alternative - Your Money or Your Life

Death Alternative - Captured

Jaxonz Positioner

Wearable Laterns

OBIS

Skyrim Immersive Creatures

 

 

My suggestions from other thread:

 

Character / NPC:

 

XCE - Xenius Character Enhancement (you can install other body mods on top of it)

Northborn Scars by Northborn

or Gizmodians Scars by Gizmodian and Xenius

Better Males

or SoS (if you don't mind the extra features that come with it)

RaceMenu v3.0

 

UNP / UNPB

+SG Female Texture Reneval for UNP

or Real Girls Realistic Body Texture for UNP UNPB and SeveNBase - WIP

+ Armours by FastestDog - for SEVENBASE 7B and UNPB by FastestDogInTheDistrict (lore friendly vanilla armor conversion for 7B / UNPB body replacer - works with UNPBO (O)PPAI BBP)

http://static-3.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/37946-1-1389685326.jpg

 

Superior Lore Friendly Hair

KS Hairdos: 400 (google it, has some nice manly hairstyles and tons of natural looking styles for females)

Lovely Hairstyles by sn00p

Coverkhajiits by mrLenski

The Eyes Of Beauty by Gabriel Mailhot

Eyes of Aber by Aberin (standalone)

 

 

Inhabitants of Skyrim (skyrim npc looks redone)

or Ultimate NPC Overhaul (if you care to get 2 huge hair packs that are not on nexus anymore / I did)

Common Clothes by Franklin Zunge (new outfits randomly assigned to npc's wearing farmer/miner/commoner clothes)

 

 

 

Items / Environment / Towns:

 

Unique Uniques by InsanitySorrow

Lore Weapon Expansion by InsanitySorrow and Elvarheim

 

Immersive Armors by Hothtrooper44

 

aMidianBorn Book of Silence (huge retexture pack - weapons, armors, enemies)

http://static-1.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/24909-1-1379956346.jpg

 

JK's Skyrim by Jkrojmal and Teabag86 (and all new files)

http://static-1.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/61035-1-1422064254.jpg

 

The Useless Shop and Interior Overhaul by iWilliBlecha

http://static-2.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/61237-1-1420124358.jpg

 

 

Silly Level of Detail - Potions and Poisons -- SLOD PnP by Narmix

Silly Level of Detail - Wine Cellar -- SLOD WC by Narmix

White Phial Replacer by Saerileth

High Quality Food and Ingredients by Iraito

Jen's 2K Food and Ingredients by Jen

Jen's HD Inkwell and Quill by Jen

HD Noble Furniture by Arcanesix 4k

HD Furniture and barrels final __ hi-res texture replacer by quazaque

RUSTIC SILVERWARE by Gamwich

RUSTIC POTTERY by Gamwich

RUSTIC WINDOWS - 2K and 1K Textures by Gamwich

Lockpicking interface retex by Quazaque

Trifle from Hiro the Gate Solityyud by Hiro

Box boxes from Hiro

Trade tents from Hiro Solitude by Hiro

Ruins Clutter Improved by raiserfx

Book Covers Skyrim by DanielCoffey and doccdr

Book Covers Skyrim - Lost Library by DanielCoffey

 

 

Skyrim Landscape Overhaul by C0331 AKA privata (redesigned landscape, adds new stone formations, trees, etc)

SkyFalls and SkyMills - Animated Distant Waterfalls and WindMills by SjoertJansen

Skyrim High Definition LODs (replaces blurred textures of distant land)

Skyrim High Definition LODs - Dark LOD Textures (grassy)

No Dragon LODs by ShenziSixaxis

Skyrim Realistic Texture Overhaul dragons 4K-8K by Frozunswaidon

EWIs vivid Bridges 2k by ewi65

EWIs Whiterun by ewi65 (stone textures, use together with parallax meshes)

 

Immersive Fallen Trees

Convenient Bridges ALPHA

 

Realistic Water Two

Watercolor for ENB and Realistic Water Two

 

Splash of Rain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtYup26Faxg

 

SkySight - Simply Bigger Trees

Tree LOD for Skysight Simply Bigger Trees by zilav

 

CM Bark (under optional files of enb - Natural Lighting and Atmospherics for ENB by Confidence-Man)

http://static-1.nexusmods.com/15/images/110/6094374-1422010919.jpg

 

4K Parallax Treebark by FKPX3118

http://static-2.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/61875-1-1422013999.jpg

 

Vivid Landscapes - Dungeons and Ruins / Imperial Forts / Orc and Farmhouses (independent orc set) / Birthsigns / Volcanic Area / Cliffs and Creaks / Castle Volkihar

 

Osmodius Windhelm Texture Pack by osmodius

Dawnguard Parallax by HXP

Windhelm Bridge Overhaul by Bjs_336

SKY CITY - Markarth Rising by reindeer51

 

Skyrim Realistic Texture Overhaul Farmhouses

Skyrim Realistic Texture Overhaul Clouds

Skyrim Realistic Texture Overhaul Caves

 

aMidianBorn Landscape by CaBaL

or Tamriel Reloaded textures

(authors made sure all the textures mesh well together and you won't see lines where the ground textures are suppose to blend)

 

 

Tamriel Reloaded - Mountains

 

 

 

Verdant - A Skyrim Grass Plugin (get 512x512 resolution version and set your grass density to 70+ with your gpu)

 

 

or Tamriel Reloaded - Grasses

 

Immersive Roads (if you don't mind low resolution)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5474/11411980575_c3f76ea53b_m.jpg

 

 

 

Enb:

 

The Grim and Somber Enb - Vaermina (nice dark enb with good performance)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgrimdark/sets/72157646379002070/

 

K enb Pure Light (Only performance or quality preset. Extreme is mostly only for screenarchery. Best bright enb out there.)

http://static-1.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/58338-4-1418467203.jpg

 

Clarity ENB (performance friendly)

http://static-1.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/61738-2-1421382126.jpg

 

 

Dahaka's ENB by FKPX3118 (only by pm/post request on FKPX3118 mod page)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dahakas_enb/sets/72157647373890583/

 

 

Gameplay:

 

Live Another Life

More Bandit Camps

OBIS

Skyrim Immersive Creatures by lifestorock

INIGO (voiced follower)

MORE Additional Player Voices for Skyrim

Badass Voice Pack for Additional Player Voices

Grumpy UI FX by 5poiler

Equipping Overhaul by DragonDude1029

Pseudo parry animation by topeira and Krish698

Realistic Ragdolls and Force

D13 Faster GET UP STAND UP

Dead Body Collision Fix by LargeStyle

Dovahkriid - The Dragon Lords by AurianaValoria1

Dragons Shout with Voice by pauderek

Bellyaches New Dragon Species and Ohdaviing Replacer by Bellyache

Brawl Bugs Patch - Plugins - Modder Resource by jonwd7

YY Anim Replacer - Mystic Knight by yukl

VioLens - A Killmove Mod by Reko

Combat Evolved by CrushBoss -raulfin -GhostAgent + Ultimate Combat

Dual Wield Parrying by Borgut1337

Dodge Mod by Borgut1337

Forceful Bash by Borjoyzee + Kick Bash by evanoblivion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV_E3vK4w-Y

Fishing In Skyrim by Arodicus Snaux

Convenient Horses by Alek (horse follow command by wistle and waving hand, real inventory to stash your loot, naming horses with Convenient Horse Herding addon, incorporated unique saddles from More Saddles by Laup26)

Jaxonz Positioner by Jaxonz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMx22zQ2e6M

 

 

 

PS: I would scrap SFO and Lush Trees and Grass for performance reasons. You would be better of with above flora mods.

 

 

[kelcior]

Is there a way to install these mods in bundle, after installing 4 mods i just want to kill myself. This is so tiresome, especially finding all the needed dependencies, load order etc.

Plus MO wouldn't recognize nxm protocol in firefox so i had to download everything manually.

Edited February 1, 2015 by kelcior

[Boombro]

It the first time for this guy, why all those mods?

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

It the first time for this guy, why all those mods?

 

The guy who posted above you is not the original thread author and the mods in my quote are just a bonus, if someone wishes to fully upgrade their mod profile in future. The ones he should focus on for starters are in "Required" and "Good to have" sections.

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

Is there a way to install these mods in bundle, after installing 4 mods i just want to kill myself. This is so tiresome, especially finding all the needed dependencies, load order etc.

 

 

Then just install the required section plus this and be done with it till you feel like modding something more (you can skip FNIS and XP32, if you won't ever install custom character bodies or animations):

 

Tamriel Reloaded HD

amidianborn - Book of Silence

XCE

 

Epic Gameplay Overhaul by ApolloDown (if you are interested in gameplay modification)

 

 

 

 

Plus MO wouldn't recognize nxm protocol in firefox so i had to download everything manually.

 

Edit: There is a setup fix for MO and FF. Just follow steps in selected post at the top.

http://forum.step-project.com/topic/4736-google-chrome-cant-download-from-skyrim-nexus-using-mo/?p=76367

 

 

If you associated nxm with MO when you ran it for the first time, just do this:

 

"If you are using Firefox, open Firefox, and inside Firefox Tools/Options, go to the Applications tab. Search for nxm and point it toward the nxmhandler application located inside the ModOrganizer directory if the option exists."

 

 

After MO is done with download click on downloads tab in MO (on the right, together with Plugins). Double click to install.

Edited February 1, 2015 by BlackRoseOfThorns

[kelcior]

 

Is there a way to install these mods in bundle, after installing 4 mods i just want to kill myself. This is so tiresome, especially finding all the needed dependencies, load order etc.

 

 

Then just install the required section plus this and be done with it till you feel like modding something more (you can skip FNIS and XP32, if you won't ever install custom character bodies or animations):

 

Tamriel Reloaded HD

amidianborn - Book of Silence

XCE

 

Epic Gameplay Overhaul by ApolloDown (if you are interested in gameplay modification)

 

 

 

 

Plus MO wouldn't recognize nxm protocol in firefox so i had to download everything manually.

 

Edit: There is a setup fix for MO and FF. Just follow steps in selected post at the top.

http://forum.step-project.com/topic/4736-google-chrome-cant-download-from-skyrim-nexus-using-mo/?p=76367

 

 

If you associated nxm with MO when you ran it for the first time, just do this:

 

"If you are using Firefox, open Firefox, and inside Firefox Tools/Options, go to the Applications tab. Search for nxm and point it toward the nxmhandler application located inside the ModOrganizer directory if the option exists."

 

 

After MO is done with download click on downloads tab in MO (on the right, together with Plugins). Double click to install.

 

 

There is no nxm protocol on the list in Firefox.

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

 

There is no nxm protocol on the list in Firefox.

 

 

I just checked it the other day and ran FF with MO without any problems. You should head to technical support forum section and try to get some assist with troubleshooting it.

[Asterra]

K enb Pure Light (Only performance or quality preset. Extreme is mostly only for screenarchery. Best bright enb out there.)

 

Hmm. With all due respect, any ENB that one might care to hold up as the "best bright" option had better be able to offer convincingly sunlit scenery. This means bright whites and high contrast, not stylized palettes. A year ago I was made aware of Opethfeldt, which, even in its untampered state, offers a much better "bright" experience than the above screenshot. I tweaked it a bit at the time and was able to get something fairly photoreal. And then there's the "State of Unrest" guy who has been tweaking Opethfeldt for years and has now effectively developed the best Skyrim ENB on the planet, though he will probably only release the thing once Skyrim is dead and buried.

 

 

 

The rest of your mod recommendations is an incredible time saver, and should be in a FAQ or something. I'm now actually freshly pumped to finish up my modding and get playing. (Or at least vetting the newest texture packs for duds. The entire Skyrim 2K pack is catastrophically, utterly fubared, for example.)

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

 

K enb Pure Light (Only performance or quality preset. Extreme is mostly only for screenarchery. Best bright enb out there.)

 

Hmm. With all due respect, any ENB that one might care to hold up as the "best bright" option had better be able to offer convincingly sunlit scenery. This means bright whites and high contrast, not stylized palettes. A year ago I was made aware of Opethfeldt, which, even in its untampered state, offers a much better "bright" experience than the above screenshot. I tweaked it a bit at the time and was able to get something fairly photoreal. And then there's the "State of Unrest" guy who has been tweaking Opethfeldt for years and has now effectively developed the best Skyrim ENB on the planet, though he will probably only release the thing once Skyrim is dead and buried.

 

Photoreal is not considered "the best" by me, since it's a game like any other. While Opethfeld looks great for some of the flora shots, it washes out a lot of the color. This was my recommendation list and not general enb poll. K enb offers amazing view adaptation, deep colors and fancy lenses.

 

You can check some of my K enb gameplay shots here :happy:

(I use parallax only on some dead trees, rocks and certain buildings, so most of it are just regular normal maps.)

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/497969/?

Lenses Example:

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/498070/?

 

 

The rest of your mod recommendations is an incredible time saver, and should be in a FAQ or something. I'm now actually freshly pumped to finish up my modding and get playing. (Or at least vetting the newest texture packs for duds. The entire Skyrim 2K pack is catastrophically, utterly fubared, for example.)

 

I'm glad you liked it :D A lot of skyrim players both new to the tittle and comming back asks for mod recommendations for their gaming rigs and not all of them want to go through s.t.e.p. I doubt s.t.e.p manages to follow new mods popping out like mushrooms here on nexus and the results might vary from user to user. The mods listed by me are my personal safe bets that looks and works great on both my laptop and desktop (with the exception of quality enb presets for the laptop). In my opinion the mod authors do exceptional work that deserves attention and I like to think other skyrim fans will enjoy their skyrim experience even more by simply adding some of those mods to their playthrough list.

 

 

If anyone is interested, here are few mods I have downloaded recently:

Immersive detection of NPC by kkil001

Bandits Glory by terso

Sarcastic Player Dialogue - WIP by Serioos

NPC Bartering by Volek

Eye Normal Map Fix by Mr Dave (I've used it in the past, but then completely forgot about it!)

True Textures - Bird Nests by JimtownIrish

RUSTIC DINNERWARE by Gamwich

Edited February 4, 2015 by BlackRoseOfThorns