Looking for Beginner Mods

[RedGalaxy]

Hello.

 

First let me say, if this isn't the right place, sorry. I wasn't sure were else to put this.

 

Okay, so now on to the main part of this post.

 

I started modding my skyrim game about a month ago, and sort of jumped right in, with no regard for what I was doing, or what I might mess up. I quickly got lost in the sea of mods, I had everything from ACE or SkyRe to JaySus Swords and Immersive Armors. I had little things like Glowing Ore, to much bigger things like SMIM and Hi-Res Textures Optimized. I had Deadly Dragons, Skyrim Monster Mod, WICCloaks, and about 60 more. Sadly, I just kept installing mods, one after another, barely trying out the previous mod, before I had installed another. Until yesterday when Skyrim just sort of gave up on me, and I had to do a clean install of everything. (Game, NMM, Wrye, and BOSS, though the last three were more for safety reasons.)

 

Anyways, I still want to mod my game, and get a whole new experience out of Skyrim, but I want to take it slower. So, I'm here asking the forums this simple question.

 

What are some good places to start with mods? (Note: I do have Dawnguard, but I got it at around the time I started modding, and I sadly haven't played it through yet...)

 

My currently downloaded mods are...

 

*means they're installed

 

A Quality World Map*

AOF Believable Hair*

Apocalypse Spell Package

ASIS

Auto Unequip Arrows*

Bandolier - Bags and Pouches

Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized* (Can't quite handle full HD)

Better Beast Races*

Categorized Favorites Menu*

Categorized Favorites Menu Oni Edition*

Chimneys for SkyrimRW*

Cloaks of Skyrim

Closer Quivers and Longer Arrows*

Convenient Horses

Deja Vu (don't know if it works or not.)

Dovahkiin Relaxes Too*

Enhanced Distant Terrain*

Follower Trap Saftey

Glowing Ore Veins 300*

Guard Dialogue Overhaul*

Heavy Armory

High Quality 3D Map*

Immersive Armors

Immersive HUD

Improved NPC Clothing - High Res*

Improved NPC Clothing - High Res - Expansion*

Lanterns of Skyrim*

Lanterns of Skyrim - Climates of Tamriel default*

Less Annoying Barbas

Lost Art of the Blacksmith

Lush Grass

Lush Trees

Phenderix Magic Evolved

Player Headtracking*

Project Reality - Climates of Tamriel*

Projectile Soul Trap*

Skill Interface Re-Texture*

SkyRe-Skyrim Redone (waiting for next update)

Skyrim Flora Overhaul

Skyrim Improved Magic System

Skyrim Monster Mod

Skyrim Monster Mod Replaces - Lore Friendly and Others

Skyrim Performance PLUS - All*

Skyrim Weapon De-LARP-ification*

Skyrim Weapon De-LARP-ification Dawnguard add-on*

Skyrim Community Uncapper (with SkyRe settings)

SkyTEST

SkyUI*

Smart Souls* (won't uninstall this, unless there's better)

Smithing Perks Overhaul

Static Mess Improvement Mod*

The Paarthurnax Dilemma

Ultimate Follower Overhaul

Ultimate Follower Overhaul - Dawnguard Add-On

Unofficial Skyrim Patch*

Unofficial Dawnguard Patch*

WATER*

Weapons and Armor Fixes*

Weapons of the Third Era

Wearable Lanterns*

Wearable Lanterns - Guard Add-On*

Winter is Coming - Cloaks

XCE- Xenius Character Enhancement*

Yngol Barrow Button Fix*

 

PS: Could someone specify what an ENB is?

Edited September 12, 2012 by RedGalaxy

[KiwiHawkNZ]

Kia ora

 

Where to start mate

 

Enhanced Distant Terrain us sugested to go with Quality Word Map

 

Vurts Flora and lust trees, Lust grass are nice as is Beautiful Whiterun same person does Beautiful Riften too (if I remember rightly)

 

Categorized Favorites Menu is choice add for your quck menu (Q) key one

 

Immersive Armors if you into the likes of Jay SuS swords "Masters of Death"

 

Theres

Body replacers like UNP and CBBE "Eyes of Beauty"

 

House mods like

 

Dwanspire and Barad Mithost

 

Search on Craftable you get a heap

 

you maybe need to define what your looking for, some for example would not want to be pointed at thos body mod's if nudity is an issue

do you want to beaty up yor landscapes and textures or get more stuff to play with change game play just for starters

 

there a bit of food for thought there but buttom line is it's so personal what people use and want in their game

[RedGalaxy]

I'm really trying to get a feel for what mods do, and can accomplish. (Though, I've seen the adult mods, and I'd like to steer clear of those, otherwise, I'm open to just about anything.)

 

I think the first things I'd like to really try are mods like "Auto UnEquip Arrows" or Sheilds on Back(or whatever its called). You know, mods that, in general make things look a bit more natural, and immersive. Also, though I'm going near them yet, I'd like to look into some overhaul mods. I've seen SkyRe and I actually like it, I'd like some simpler overhaul mods, but I don't wanna use any of them full time until I beat Dawnguard vanilla. (So, while you can suggest them, and I'll look at them, I won't be using any dawnguard specific mods yet either.)

 

Also... What are some good lighting mods? and What does ENB mean, and what are they used for exactly?

[NemesisTheWarlock]

I would recommend using Guard Dialogue Overhaul. As you intend to use Immersive Armors, put GDO after it in the load order and it'll fix the guard dialogue bugs in IA. Otherwise, I'd recommend you check out S.T.E.P. Skyrim Total Enhancement Project as it's dedicated to enhancing everyone's Skyrim experience and they've got loads of advice for what you're doing, they just haven't got around to adding in GDO yet. Good Luck! :)

[RedGalaxy]

Thanks for your suggestions. I've update my list of Mods. Are there any other mods that could be recommened? (Maybe more bug fixes? or anything of that sort?)

 

Also, the mods that aren't currently installed are mainly not installed because they change one or two key things that would truly change the Vanilla game, and I don't want that quite yet, not until I complete Dawnguard.

[dragonslayer2k12]

I still haven't done a second playthrough yet and I don't want to until I find all the basic good and useful mods that I want to use before going through the whole game again. So I ended up making a few mods trying to improve things and I haven't been able to stop modding yet. I read a post somewhere on the net from a guy that did something similar with oblivion and he never got around to playing it again just modded it all the time.

 

I really hate how every single TES game has to be fixed or modded before it is playable without UESP or google! I don't want to have to use the console not even once! but that is a dream, the fact that a large group of people work on something called the unofficial skyrim patch and now the unofficial dawnguard patch is reason enough to be pissed at the company. I can only imagine what the offices of the devs looks like, probably looks like a tornado just came through and everything is scattered everywhere. Nothing organized, never completely finished with anything just constantly working on stuff and never making it work right just make it work to a point and that is all that matters. How many more buggy things for this game will come out? Why did they make that hearthfizzle dlc? I don't think the average player wants to swat at dragons and giants all the time to keep them off some trophy museum full of orphans and a spouse and dogs and horsies! I really hate the bugs in this game and I can't stand mini dlc and npc killing bugs like in dawnguard. They didn't even have to make dawnguard they could have just made part of another province/country and allowed the player to travel there. Crossbows we could have had thanks to modders and nobody needs anymore vampires and warewolves. I have only played the game completely through once and I am already dreading the thought of playing it again if I have to worry about buggy dlc killing the experience.

 

I want to install the unofficial patches but they change so many things and I don't want to experience new bugs just because I tried to patch the game. To find out if that will happen or not I would have to follow the daily logs of the unofficial patch makers and it would probably be just as bad as not using the patch and looking at google again all the time.

 

The only things I have managed to change to my liking so far are two mods that I have made, they are hosted on the nexus. One is a backpack/carryweight/enchanted gear mod and the other changes the various fancy clothes in the game and gives better rewards for important stuff. I want to make two more mods before I dive in again, get a basement and some basic stuff in the basement for breezehome, no forges or smelters down there just a library and a mannequin and maybe some weapon racks all working correctly and get a mod for ebony armor and shield working and looking good. Then get into the enb stuff and some basic mods and that is it, I don't want more than ten mods in my next game. People running sixty mods I don't know how ya do it? Lol the same game would mess up so fast and all that progress lost would feel like such a waste. It is better to keep up with ten really good mods and complete everything and be ready for any new dlc that doesn't suck than to have a lot of mods and have to start over a lot.

 

I have been modding and testing with my original save game so much that I know it won't be stable for much longer. Already some stuff in the game that should be working doesn't anymore, little things like musical instruments missing from bards when they sing to people suddenly missing that were there a month ago. I don't have dawnguard installed because I don't have it yet. Don't even want to play it until it is patched at least once officially. The worst thing about all of this is that I am probably not the only one that has these same complaints and experiences.

[Biohazard186]

To enhance the overall look I recommend the IMAGINATOR and DYNAVISION alongside Realistic Lighting with Customization mods. The first allows all sorts of tweaks to color, saturation, contrast, etc. Just play around with it a bit to find the color/lighting scheme that suits you best. The second adds a depth of field effect to the game. You can switch it between dynamic and static. I personally use static as dynamic tends to mess up, at least for me.

 

Are you a vampire or a werewolf player?

 

If you're a vampire I highly recommend Belua Sanguinare Revisited. Vanilla vampires are boring and more of a chore than anything else. BSR fixes that by allowing you to customize your experience. And instead of becoming a weak little thing when you feed you become stronger (should you choose to), gaining new spells and abilities for every level of vampirism you progress such as draining the blood of everyone around you, teleporting a short distance, breathing underwater and jumping higher. Likewise, as you gain powers you gain weaknesses (unless you change some of the options, for instance low level vampires taking more damage in the sun than higher level vampires (the default setting is the opposite of that)). That's just the tip of the iceberg, as they say. Alongside BSR I also recommend Vampires Shelter in Shadows. It's a little gimmicky but what it does is allow you to take refuge in any shadow to stop the damaging effect of the sun. Another good mod to couple with those is sOys Vampire Perks. It completely overhauls the Vampire Lord perk tree, making it more useful and worthwhile.

 

Or are you a werewolf? In that case I recommend Werewolf Affinity. Like the vanilla vampires of Skyrim, werewolves are neutered pretty badly, though not receiving nearly as short a stick. Unless you use something like WereToggle you can only become a werewolf once a day. And aside from a few totems to change your howl's power, that's it. Werewolf Affinity works to change that much the same way BSR changes vampires. Once you progress a couple levels, or affinities as this mod calls them, you can change to and from werewolf form freely. You become stronger with each level and, as a bonus, you are fully capable of using the favorites menu as well as the character menu (unless you have Dawnguard as the key to get to the character menu is the same as the perk tree menu, remapping the key should fix that) as well as being able to loot bodies and chests, although you are unable to pick locks. You also gain several powers, such as the ability to infect NPC's with lycanthropy and call them to your side in battle after a day. As with BSR, there are drawbacks to balance this power out. The higher you progress in levels the more you need to feed on human or elven blood or else you suffer stat penalties. Neglect your bloodlust long enough and you run the risk of going berserk and attacking the first potential meal you come across (this is bad). To overhaul the werewolf perk tree, use Bloodmoon Rising.

 

For a very well done armor/weapon mod inspired by the Dark Brotherhood, I recommend the Black Sacrament armor. This mod is constantly updated and the author has currently modeled it to be updated in chapters, each chapter presumably adding new weapons and/or features and/or armor. If you're the dark assassin type then this armor set is definitely for you.

 

Another armor mod is the Dread Hunter/Huntress armor. It was inspired by the Demon Hunter armor from Diablo 3 and, with the advent of crossbows in Dawnguard, makes this armor fit right in.

 

Deadly Dragons is a must have. Even higher level dragons in the vanilla game are way too easy to kill. DD remedies this by allowing you to increase/decrease the deadliness of each and every dragon in the game. It also adds many new dragons to the game.

 

Crimson Tide overhauls the blood mechanic into something for visually aesthetic. Bodies will bleed out and wounds look better in general. And gone are the annoying blurry red spots on the HUD when you are wounded, replaced by defined textures that wont make you blink to try and clear whatever is obstructing your vision in real life (it sucks cuz it turns out there's nothing there!).

 

The Dance of Death is a good mod if you wish the customize kill moves a little more. You can modify the chance that you'll activate a kill move as well as how often kill moves will be used against you.

 

 

This is getting really long so I'm gonna stop here, even though I've got a ton of other good ones.

[thestormdragon]

ENB is a graphics/lighting texturizing enhancement mod. Some mods affecting Skyrim's general outdoor textures/lighting may not be compatible with your ENB mod. Check the mod descriptions for compatibility in the Nexus Mod files for ones you are interested in. I would use the Yngol barrow fix mod or you won't be able to get out of Yngol barrow without going all the way back to the beginning. Also the unofficial patches are good to use. I have ENB set up as well and would strongly suggest you get the green water fix mod or you won't be able to see under water when swimming. Some good basic mods are the Convenient Horses mod (horses can be made invincible, wear armor, follow, attack hostile NPCs, have inventory, and be called) - good mod for traveling and being overburdened - allows for fast travel and a mobile storage chest. The Lost Art of the Blacksmith is good too. If you are into recycling this mod lets you recycle an amazing amount of things into badly needed ingots and leather for smithing. I use this one with Val's Crafting Meltdown. Jaysus Swords works very well with Immersive armors, Cloaks of Skyrim, and Winter's coming (another cloak mod with fur cloaks). The Bandolier bags and pouches mod is good to increase character carry weight especially if you use the Support Gear mod too which adds a backpack right from the start of the game somewhere in Helgen to increase your carry weight. I won't tell you where. That would be too much of a spoiler. I like Craftable Staffs and Craftable Artifacts too - they go with Jaysus Swords, Immersive Armors, Val's Crafting Meltdown, Bandolier Bags and Pouches, Support Gear, Cloaks of Skyrim, Winter's Comming and Lost Art of the Blacksmith (all compatible with each other and ENB) if you like crafting/smithing. Convenient Horses and the patches above are also compatible with ENB. As far as housing goes - the Riverwood Starter Home is very convenient right inside Riverwood, and My Home mod right beside Whiterun is also a good location - centrally located. Both have storage, full smithing utilities, alchemy and enchanting tables. I also like Beyond 81 and Experience Reduction (you can choose to do one or both and all the way up to level 255 if you want to keep getting perks and play unlimited when it comes to perk choice - example a warrior with magic skills (mastery level) and thief skills) If you have Dawnguard I would recommend the Breezehome Alchemy fix too. Also if you are a PC user I would recommend SkyUI you will need SKSE script extender for your version of Skyrim. If you have the latest official update (not the latest Steam Beta official update) Version 1.6.89 compatible with most mods if there isn't any mod conflicts - use SKSE script extender version 1_05_09 not the most current one. It is in the archives under the SKSE link in files needed for SkyUI. It acts as a great inventory search filter and uses large icons to easily go to different inventory catagories.

 

Also I read somewhere that a max of 255 plugins (mods) can be used with Skyrim, but not are all compatible with each other and the more you have running the slower and potentially more buggy Skyrim can get until it crashes all together. Start slower watching out for compatibility, reading descriptions and trying out mods together one at a time adding to ones you know are compatible with each other. Some mods may outright crash Skyrim. I ran into this problem and had to start from scratch too and learned the hard way. Going slower will allow you to find the problem mod and remove it from your loading list. Load order is also important. As a rule of thumb I load Skyrim, Dawnguard, any official patches, smaller fixes, texture enhancers, level cap and perk cap changer mods, homes, crafting mods, and mods like Immersive Armors near last after Bandoliers Bags and Pouches and Support Gear mods. If you use Deadly dragons it should be last. Also it is better to have 20 to 25 good mods that you know are compatible and don't slow Skyrim down too much than over 100. Some mods affect current saves too. Watch out for this too and read up on the ones you choose to use.

 

Skyrim and Dawnguard can be played without the unofficial patches, but I would recommend the latest official patch. There are unfortunately bugs. I too hate buggy games and DLC. Lets go back to the good old days when games cost $25 to $30 were pretty much bug free or only had minor bugs, expansions were available in stores not as DLC and were worth while. They were also $20 or less. Also there was no horrible DRM, or forced online or multiplayer when you wanted to play as a single player and feel as though you beat the game not someone else or getting stuck with expensive subscription fees just to play the game and re-registering it all the time. It used to be you installed the game put in the CD code and the game was yours to play forever without additional fees or hangups. For the console user it was even easier. Buy the cartridge, put it in your machine and play. No bugs, no fixes to worry about, no DLC, no DRM, no online subscription fee services.

 

Sorry console users - but the modern console systems and online gaming (both consoles and PC/MAC) ruined the whole industry. Prices driven way up, games too buggy and incomplete as developers rush to get them out or go under, online issues like DLC and DRM instead of proper, full, non buggy expansions available in stores and games full featured, non buggy, and fully playable without being tied to some online account with a company you really know little about. Also bad porting of a game from console to computer or reverse. Also from one console system to another.

 

Sorry for my ranting. From what I have read online there are many others who also rant about the issues with games at the end of this post. Especially those of us who where born before the 1990s and remember how it once was.

 

dragonslayer2k12 you aren't the only one put out by modern buggy games that can not always be played out without problems with the game.

 

RedGalaxy I hope I answered your question about ENB and some good basic mods.

Edited September 12, 2012 by thestormdragon