Refreshing vanilla experience?

[InDarkestNight]

Vanilla combat sucks, and I'm sick of it. The only combat mod I've ever used long-term is Combat Behavior Improved. Its a simple mod that lets you cancel attacks mid-animation to block. Simple as it is, it often makes it feel like you're playing with a more extensive combat overhaul (as long as both you and your opponent are using weapons anyway).

I don't know much of anything about combat overhauls. I never did like the dodging mechanic seemingly all of them add. Now I'm thinking I need to just break down and try them. I don't know much of anything about them though. Biggest problem is I don't know about their compatibility. How do they behave with mods that add new creatures? The ones in Moonpath to Elsweyr come to mind. So too the ones in Immersive Creatures.

I would prefer to avoid such mods for my first playthrough of a quest mod, but honestly playing through nothing but the vanilla game plus that one mod isn't exactly very fun. I abandoned my last playthrough of it just because I got sick of the vanilla combat, running through the same beginning for the upteenth time, and not being able to do much of anything due to me playing a 'good' character (this game just doesn't work if you want to play a good guy; at best you have to be a wolverine-like anti-hero or a straight villain).

So, what can I do to make the game less dull? Is combat even the way to go? Would simply running with immersive armors or immersive creatures help out? I used to like Beasts of Tamriel, but that mod caused me too many stability issues, and lets be real its models are in bad need of an update. I tried the Monster Mod once, but quickly got tired of its lack of balance. The only creature mod I've ever used long-term is Skytest Realistic Animals and Predators, which I still miss. That's mainly an ambient mod though, and its badly incompatible with just about everything. I still prefer it though over vanilla creatures cosplaying as something else, even if some of its models really need an update (I love that mod to death despite its issues, don't get me wrong).

What can I do to make the vanilla game less boring without doing something that may interfere with my major quest mod? Seemingly everything alters balance, which is the biggest issue. Also, warrior builds are just so boring. Walk up to things and left-click it to death, over and over. Its why I've always preferred stealth and mage characters. At least mages have multiple spells to choose from, and stealth gameplay in this game is just far more interesting than its combat. All I can seem to do is not play a goody-two-shoes who refuses to do just about every quest in the game. That probably won't help much.

What can I do?